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If you are as old as I am, or have a passion for songs from the 70s, you may remember a song from Simon and Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence. Songs of the time were meant to inspire you and awaken your passion, especially in a time when there was great unrest. There was the Vietnam War, race riots, women's rights marches, the list goes on. The younger reader will simply not understand the severity of these topics. To remind all cities were burning, protestors being shot by the National Guard, and Civil rights leaders assassinated. It was a time of great civil unrest that was not created by the media or internet but was truly organic. These songs were meant to compel us to speak out against these injustices, if we did not our, silence would just allow them to continue or worse yet spread.
Simon and Garfunkel’s harmonies made their music hauntingly beautiful and the words disturbingly true. The lyrics expound out about what happens when you are silent about events that are occurring. You’re allowing those with bigger, louder voices to overpower you and position you into silent acceptance. These injustices had a moral truth that spoke against them. Additionally, we took the time to understand why they were unacceptable and society spoke out and pushed back.
Christians are increasingly under attack. Our young are susceptible. They see an older generation content with their faith and silence against any opposition. Our children are being left defenseless. They go into a world that is hostile towards their faith and are armed with narratives that are meant to undermine their faith. When they are confronted, they will need skills and facts to defend our faith. What does our silence or lack of defense do? It emboldens our critics, whether their belief is in atheism, any other faith or worldview. People have come to view Christians as unthoughtful, uneducated, and ignorant about the world and what science can prove. Reading ablog by Tim Barnett from Stand to Reason, his words hit me hard: “it’s not doubt that’s toxic to faith; it’s silence!” It is our silence that speaks volumes and allows our message to be muffled and confused. That, in turn, causes our skeptics to be louder and create more skeptics, which creates a generation of doubters. Those doubters are easily turned away from their Christian faith. The end result is a weakening of our faith and the number of Christians willing to defend our faith. With all that the world confronts us with, we really need to spend some time getting educated in the evidence that God has given us. The evidence that people have written down, the evidence that people have died to preserve, the evidence that Jesus Christ, God himself, became man suffered and died so that we may know. Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share No one dared Disturb the sound of silence "Fools" said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, "The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sounds of silence
3 Comments
TIm
3/26/2019 08:31:18 am
Edmund Burke said that "the only thing necessary for evil to exist is for good people to remain silent." Often the silence from our churches is deafening.
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John Demarco
3/26/2019 12:42:14 pm
Great blog keep up the challenge to be silent no more
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Author - Guy YasikaLooking to profess my faith to anyone that will listen. |
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