more than just a face on a tin can of oats

Today I did something I've never done before...

I went to a Quaker meeting.

Before trekking up to the 4th floor of JWW, I had never met a Quaker before, save for my high school substitute chemistry teacher and the elderly man decked in his characteristic garb on the front of a tin can of oats.

I was curious and wanted to learn more about Quakerism. So I proceeded onward.

As I walked into the room, an elderly man stood up and shook my hand. "Welcome," smiled Hans Dieter Gomes, a retired Brown University librarian and the religious life affiliate for the Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) community. He gave me a brief rundown of Quakerism, explaining how meetings work: we all sit in silence, and if God compels us to say something out loud, then we say something out loud because it could be a very important message for someone else to hear, and in return we too might hear a very important message.

It was cool just to sit in silence for 45 minutes in the middle of the day. Normally I'd probably be scrolling through Buzzfeed or scrambling to cram some Orgo functional groups into my mind. But the quietness of it all was relaxing and definitely pointed my mind towards God.

Later tonight was the Interfaith Supper, and Hans was the speaker! He shared incredible stories from his 60+ year life (ask him about it!). One Quaker tenet that he mentioned that resonated with me is that there exists a healing presence amongst the silence of a world saturated with the noise of sin.

In other words, silence is golden.

And several others have put it this way: "Don't let the noise of the world keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord."

iPods and iPads. 50-inch and 150-inch TVs. Jackhammers and jet planes.

Our ears must be ringing with tinnitus by now...

But it's not just physical noise.

The noise of temptation. Beckoning you to wander down the wrong path.

So I see why Quakers value silence.

Jesus Himself retreated into the mountains and sought personal quiet time with God.

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." ~ Mark 1:35

“Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.” ~ Luke 6:12-13

The more time we spend with God, the more we can get to know His voice. Just like a friend, God wants to spend time with us.

'He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."' ~ Psalm 46:10

In 2010, I went to Hawaii with my high school classmates and got to witness the sunrise while standing 10,000 feet atop Haleakala Crater. Awe and peace penetrated my heart. All the feels.

Something to ponder: What do you think is the value of silence and solitude? In what ways is our world "noisy"?