The Seasons of Silence

 

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about silence.  The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes says that everything has a season, and silence is no exception. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die...a time to weep and a time to laugh...a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”

 

As I reflected on the seasons of silence in my life I realized I have learned much about silence from a variety of places.  From the gay and lesbian community I have learned that silence=death.  When we are silent about who are, people are left to fill in the blanks of our silence with harmful stereotypes that fuel violence and hate against us.  When we are silent, our closets close in on us and we die a slow painful death to our true selves as we expend massive amounts of energy trying to maintain two identities.

 

From Black lesbian poet Audre Lorde I learned that my silence will not protect me.  I cannot let my fear of ridicule or reprimand keep me from speaking words of justice.  The decision not to speak does not make a problem go away, and in the end, a word withheld is a betrayal of all who have spoken so I might be free.

 

To everything there is a season.  There are times when observing silence is a powerful act.  If you do not believe silence is powerful, observe what happens the next time there is a noticeable silence in a room full of people.  The awkwardness we feel in the face of silence is really a recognition of its power.

 

Writer and psychotherapist Gunilla Norris says that within each of us there is a silence as vast as the universe.  We are afraid of it and we long for it.  Afraid, because of who or what we might encounter in the silence.  Afraid because if we slow down long enough to enter the silence we might cease to exist.  And yet, we long for silence because it connects us to our source of being.  It heals us and reveals to us what we truly value and hold dear.

 

In our hurried, bottom-line, measurable-outcome culture, silence is an endangered species. Silence is counter-cultural and needed for our transformation and the transformation of the world.  In our seasons of silence as gay and lesbian people, as we consider the importance of silence=death for our community, let us recognize that sharing silence is also a political act.  When we share silence we create a space for common values and wisdom to be born.  When we share silence, important words of truth are born.  When we share silence, our silence is transformed into language and action.