The Abode of Silence

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The silence of the early morning is my sanity. To be alone, quiet and still for an hour or two, reading, praying and painting...indoors or out...Selah 😊. But there is another kind of silence that is hellish. 

When silence makes minutes feel like years and words are smothered by someone else's hands, it feels like a prison of sorts...for me anyway. My tongue is a fire. Fast and hot. It needs to be controlled and trained. God has a way of doing that for me, and still gives me the grace of expression through safer means. I can write my thoughts, which allows for the prudence of backspaces and delete buttons...which tongues don't have.  Writing allows for time to reflect, reword and be careful. It can still yield a shard sword if hastily written and shared, but a better option than the tongue.

The silence of art though. Oh my. What a gift that is! I never knew I could express myself so freely, and not cause harm or offence like the tongue or words can. It's a silence I adore, where silence was killing me before. Yes, a little vague, a lot symbolic, but still allows feelings and ideas, values and opinions to be stated, without a word, and with so much beauty! When my inside words are nasty, it comes out on the canvas and is ugly. No one is hurt by them. I just paint over it and start a new sentence...kinder, slower and more thoughtful.

There is a time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecc 3:7). I am in a time of silence right now. When God asks you to hold back, to do nothing but wait, He also gives you an outlet for the soul your shut mouth contains. It might be exercise, or music. It might be several modes of creativity, and mine is at the easel. It has turned the silence of hell into a silence of color and form. A thing words cannot ruin and a thing I can go to quickly when my tongue starts to kindle. There are so many issues being harshly debated online right now. I start to read, I start to burn, I start to type, then I remember the futility of the hasty words. Pick up the brush, turn on the music and speak...silently and beautifully. By the end of my colorful dissertations,  I feel much better...heard and harmless.

It turns the silence of hell into a still heaven...find yours and be still ❤

"If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would have dwelt in the abode of silence."
Psalm 94:17