EDITORIAL

The Power of Silence

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If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? This old philosophical question is irrelevant from a practical perspective. It does have enormous implications, however, if we apply it to the spiritual life and our capacity to hear the voice of God. Robert Cardinal Sarah, in his latest book, “The Power of Silence,” describes a world no longer able to hear the God who created it. The subtitle of Sarah’s book, “Against the Dictatorship of Noise,” is reminiscent of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s critique of the “dictatorship of relativism.” Benedict himself commented on this new book last Easter, signaling how Sarah “teaches us silence.”

At one point in the book, Sarah describes postmodernity as an adversary and even an aggressor “against the divine silence.” He is particularly critical of the “mechanical words” of the media and the seemingly endless cacophony of meaninglessness that leaves the human spirit numb and empty. The result of such a state of affairs is disintegration, what T.S. Eliot describes as “distracted from distraction by distraction.”

The important contribution Sarah makes in this timely spiritual reflection serves as a reminder of what we stand to gain, if only we can learn to be still. He insists that we will rediscover the value of encounter, of wonder. If the word of God falls into the forest of our hearts, and we are there in the silence to hear it, will it ultimately make a difference?