So much noise, so much talking everywhere. It’s tiring. So many emails to read, voicemails to return, blogs to follow. So much chatter, so little dead air. None of us like it, at least not all the time, but all of us do it. Quiet is so foreign now that we’ve given it names like “awkward silence” or “pregnant pause”. There are twenty-six people in the coffee shop this morning and all but two of them are talking, either to someone present or on the other end of the phone.
Jennifer and I alternate bedtimes with Hutch and Sadie-Claire. On nights when she’s with Sadie I’m with Hutch, and on those nights Hutch and I have begun a routine that both of us love. After we talk about the day and sing our blessing, I ask Hutch if he wants me to stay and hold him while he falls asleep. It’s a sweet time of quiet, but we are communicating none the less. I’ve realized in those moments that conversation doesn’t require speaking. Our togetherness in the quiet reminds him that I am present and I am strong. As I scratch his back I’m telling him that I love him and want him to relax and be comfortable.
I realize this morning that I’ve never thought about communication like this before and as I let my mind wonder I recognize how just how much I say without words. My eyes tell my story best. They communicate my sorrow or anger or dishonesty. (Jennifer can tell me whole stories with her eyes). And my face and body follows suit. The way I stand, the way I walk, and the way I dress tells others something specific and important about myself. Today they say I’m tired from a long day yesterday and eating way too much last night and that I really didn’t care how I looked when I chose my cloths for the day.
The Bible says something about Jesus being able to look into another person’s eyes and see their heart. I think He wants me to learn this art as well; to be able to hear and speak without words. Like Jeremiah Johnson and the Indian girl he met in the wilderness. I think it would make life more interesting and colorful. And I would take some of the pressure off, the pressure to say the right thing.
