Sunday, September 7, 2008

The sound of silence

Today was testimony meeting, and we had a lot of silences—nothing in the minutes-long range, but several of those pauses that run just noticeable enough to make people in the congregation nervous.

Why do those silences make us nervous? I mean, is it really so wrong for us to enjoy hanging out in silent communion with the Spirit? Or are we afraid that if someone’s not up there talking we might actually start having to think through stuff for ourselves?

I’m thinking that most Mormons would simply explode if they went along with a friend to a Quaker “unprogrammed” (i.e., silent worship) service.

1 comment:

Heather the Mama Duk said...

Americans, culturally, don't like silence. And in testimony meeting most people don't want to be the one to fill in the silence. Of course it always seems the one who does has a travelogue to tell...