Silence is Golden

I decided this week to go one day without speaking. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but what made me decide to do it this week was when I taught a child who couldn't speak and a friend of mine wasn't talking because her throat was so sore. So I did it out of interest and empathy. But having to work everyday with kids made it hard, so when I worked with the kids I talked, but every other minute of the day I kept silent.

This experiment was two-fold:

1. To quiet my mouth and mind, remaining still before the Lord as much as possible and listening to Him
2. To understand (to some degree) what mute people go through so I can see life through their eyes a little better

In a way, it was like fasting from food... but with your voice. I have fasted before, and I must say, it is a lot easier to hide that from people than not talking! Everyone thought I lost my voice, and I got tired of writing it down and explaining it to them, so I just let them think I lost it. The hardest time to remain silent, for me, was in the little, mechanical responses that you would say- "God bless you" when someone sneezes, or "Excuse me" when you need to get past a group of people, or singing a song that was playing on the radio. The things I saw and learned though, were worth those little hassles in the day.

Throughout the day a verse rang in my mind "As a sheep before it's shearers is silent..." (paraphrase Is. 53:7). Now, I wasn't falsely accused of anything the day I remained quiet, but I did want to speak my mind to people now and then. But instead of telling my thoughts to people, I brought them up before God and talked with Him about them. I'm glad He's patient, because if I had talked with anyone else like I talked to Him today, I think their ear would have fallen off!

Another verse that came into my mind was "Let no corrupt speech come from your mouth, but only that which is edifying to the body" (paraphrase Eph. 4:29). I must say, I realized how much I talk in one day! Wow! But how much of what I was thinking was worth speaking for other to listen to? Sadly to say, not much I don't think. From not speaking for one day, God instilled in me a stronger desire to have my words seasoned with His grace.

Those are things that God showed me about myself, as for experiencing the world like someone who is mute, here's what I found myself doing:

• I looked people in the eyes more often. I wanted them to know that even if I couldn't verbally communicate with them, I was still actively involved in what they were saying.
• My hands wanted to keep busy if they weren't motioning what I was trying to say. Every now and then I would write a note to someone, crochet, or twirl my hair, just to be doing something. I think I did these things to fill in that empty gap where I would usually talk.
• People are loud.
• I discovered that my head voice is A LOT lower than my speaking voice... interesting...
• To get people's attention, I had to stand right in front of them. Sometimes very inconvenient.
• I was more attentive to other people getting my attention and was constantly aware of my peripherals. This is probably more like something that someone would do if they were deaf, but apparently being mute made me subconsciously think of doing it too!

Some day I would like to go a whole day being "deaf" (ear plugs) and another day being "blind" (don't know how I'll pull that one off inconspicuously...). I like doing these things because it helps me get into the mind of someone who really is mute/deaf/blind and I might be able to understand them better.

So with that, I am grateful that all of the Five Senses that God has given me work perfectly fine right now :)