{"id":927,"date":"2026-03-11T08:48:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/?p=927"},"modified":"2026-03-11T09:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:01:23","slug":"is-silence-golden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/is-silence-golden\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Silence Golden?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a group I attended a few weeks ago, the discussion turned to the subject of silence in our daily lives. More specifically, the lack thereof and how a modern plague of noise seems to have descended in this modern era. Is it a bad thing? How much do we really need to turn off our devices and tune into our inner thoughts? The benefits and demerits of the concept were bruited about for a bit, as is usually the case in a gathering of diverse perspectives, until one older lady named Vera1<\/a><\/sup> in the front spoke up: \u201cI have plenty of silence in my life. Since I lost my husband and the kids moved away, that seems to be all <\/em>I have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her comment seemed to be met by the tacit agreement of many. I saw a number of the members of the group nodding, as if they could relate. It was interesting, I thought, and felt moved to speak up, as I believed they had missed the point of the conversation. \u201cBut silence doesn’t necessarily mean peace within yourself. The lack of noise isn’t the same as being comfortable with the quiet that allows you to contemplate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vera seemed to be considering a kind way to phrase her defense. \u201cWhen you’ve been truly alone for a while, you might welcome the noise from the TV for a bit, even if it is a bit mindless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion moved on as I pondered that. In striving to make a point and \u201cteach\u201d Vera  something, I had missed the underlying message of her words. She, and many other seniors, were lonely. When the fever of daily life cooled, the crunch of raising children, running a busy household, going to work and all the other various tasks slowly eased, the silence that a younger person might value or even need was a smothering blanket to a person who was already isolated and suffering the pangs of loneliness. The prescription for a balanced life is not always the same for us all. Regret suffused me for my lack of insight, and I tuned back into the talk still going strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man on the far side of the room, James, was telling the others about the Rule of St. Benedict, a group of monks who practiced silence as an aspect in their everyday life. He ended his story with a question about how they could live practically when they needed something at the dinner table. \u201cHow do you ask for salt when you can’t speak?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scene had been laid out in my head: I pictured the brothers in their robes, replete with cords around their waists and tonsures (in my imagination it is still the Medieval period!), eating modest meals at a long wooden table. They didn’t speak over their trenchers, keeping their eyes downcast, their movements sparse and restrained. The atmosphere was austere and the only sound was the muted scraping and chewing of the shared meal of dozens of men. But wait! A single figure in the middle of the rows of indistinguishable men begins to grimace. His eyes water. His cup is empty and the jug is at the end of the table. He needs a sip to clear a bit of food stuck in his throat. What to do? He doesn’t wish to disturb the peace of his brethren. Should he gesticulate? No one is looking. Does he clear his throat? Point? Jab someone with an elbow? It’s a problem, I admit. I’m stumped. Just as I’m about to embarrass myself in front of the group a second time to ask, the answer is revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe monks don’t need words to pay attention to each other,\u201d James said. \u201cThey are taught to look out for each other, even more than for themselves. The silence only heightens their sense of care of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mental image corrected itself with James’s addendum. Instead of the monks all engrossed in their own meals, I could see them focused on each other. Their gazes weren’t merely centered on their own concerns and locked into their own worlds, but instead they cared for each other to such an extent that as soon as the brother among them needed something, they were there for him. His needs were their own. He had water in his hands before his eyes watered. His cup wasn’t ever empty. I began to see how it could work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can we learn from this? Silence may or may not be what we need in our lives, but we do need to care better for those around us. We need connection, now more than ever, and our loneliest citizens are our most vulnerable. Please take a page from our Benedictine friends and watch out for your friends and loved ones: they may be silent, but they are still speaking volumes to you, and a simple phone call or text may be all you need to break that silence and help them in ways you can never imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. All names have been changed. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>
    <\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This article contrasts the desired silence of modern life with the unwanted silence of loneliness experienced by seniors. True connection involves attentive care, even in silence. The author concludes that reaching out to lonely individuals with simple gestures is vital.<\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"All names have been changed.\",\"id\":\"97494136-3b68-4296-b0ac-79b069ae7384\"}]"},"categories":[67,36],"tags":[41,75],"class_list":["post-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-loneliness","tag-loneliness","tag-silence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/easytidings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}