The Death of Silence

I hear fantastic stories from some of my friends about just how busy and connected their days are. They go from one phone call to another, sending texts and and e-mails all day long. I used to envy those people, the people who didn't have any time to be bored. It was not until recently that I began to pity them. They cannot stand to be alone, they can't even function without some form of communication. They hide behind their connections, their friends so they don't have to face the silence. It is so sad to me, not being able to just go on a bike ride alone, not able to just go sit by a river and spend some time with God. For me, I need that time; I would be a wreck without it. I just need to be able to completely unplug and get away from it all, to be able to take a walk through the park, just me and God. It is such an empty feeling that most people have, where the only things they need they can touch and see.
My friend Sophie is always looking down; she rarely has more that 30 seconds without an incoming text. She has told me that she really misses the time where she has nothing going, those rare times when she can just go on a walk and turn off her phone. Our world is unable to unplug. It is the problem of our generation. It is so hard just to leave it all, to walk away and not look back because for one reason or another we always get pulled back in.

Silence is being threatened, it is being controlled. No longer do you have to wait eagerly for your friend to drive across town to hang out with you, no longer do you need to be face to face to have unity. Unity is no more than 30 clicks and an enter away. For most, to have any time alone is unnerving; they feel as though they can hear the clock ticking upon the wall. It is frightening. Texting is one of the simplest ways to deal with the silence, the simplest way to kill it is slowly but surely killing us. What does that say about us? What kind of life do we live? How can we call it life if there is no life? If we can no longer stop and smell the roses or simply take in a breath of fresh air, we have lost a deep part of us. Silence is a slowly dying forest, gradually being chopped down and paved to make way for a "better" and "more connected" life. Silence is being killed and we are holding the axes.