Blessed Quietness: The Beauty of Quieting the Noise

Blessed quietness
Holy quietness
What assurance in my soul
On the stormy sea
Jesus speaks to me
And the billows cease to roll

Growing up, I often heard the lyrics of the popular hymn “Blessed Quietness” at church. It was easy to sing and remember, but I admit that it didn’t hold much meaning to me as a child. As an adult, I appreciate this song much more, as I’ve come to value and understand the power of silence, of quietness, of stillness.

We live in the age of saturated noise. Notification bells. Phones ringing. Televisions and radios blasting. Constant “dings” from social media and news outlets delivering doom every hour on the hour. There’s gossip, daily demands, and stressful conversations. Kids screaming, neighbors arguing and small talk in the break room. Everywhere you go there’s noise.

There must be a way of escape from the chaos, and a reason to do so. Aside from a little sanity, there are huge benefits to quieting the noise:

Self-reflection

When was the last time you evaluated yourself? Like really self-reflected? Although introspection could pose as intimidating — especially the possibility of discovering something you may not like — self-awareness is the beautiful result. Probing questions could be: why do I think the way I think? Why do I do what I do? Why do I think or believe this way about a particular idea? Who am I? Who do I want to become?

Getting rid of the noise to look within doesn’t have to be a deeply philosophical exercise. But the more time you evaluate your thinking, words, and actions, the more you get to know yourself. And the more you know yourself, the better you can self-correct, gain confidence, know what you want and need, and understand those things that you should eliminate from yourself or outside sources to help you grow into a better human being.

Sadly, there are many who don’t take the time to quiet the outside noise and spend time with themselves—really get to know themselves. Imagine a world where you get to define who you are, not everyone else. It’s actually possible, but it requires deeper and more…