Silence is a blessing. We have fewer and fewer silent moments, it seems, so we miss that opportunity of blessing.

Silence allows to hear. With racket going on around us, we cannot hear the birds and crickets or the soft movement of leaves in the trees. We may not hear a sigh that longs to be heard or a drip in the attic from a leak that needs to be fixed.

Silence keeps us out of trouble. If we can force silence instead of saying what first comes to mind, we will not be burdened with the regret of words spoken too quickly. Silence provides a moment to regroup and perhaps change directions.

Silence gives us time to think. Reasoning and creativity can be crowded out by noise and activity. I know there are other schools of thought, but I refuse to believe that I am the only one who can concentrate better with he television turned off.

Our attitudes about the value of silence is the result of our own doing. I suppose. We have surrounded ourselves with motors that hum, alarms that beep and phones that ring or something. To compete, we must condition ourselves to live with them and carry on. Having grown up when the sound of a car coming down the road sent us rushing to the window to see it pass, I have not yet nestled into the noise traffic completely enough to ignore it.

Silence is conducive to rest and refreshment. Again, living in a busy environment forces us to tune it out when we want time-out. Try moving from the city to the quiet country-side-we must undue and adapt again.

When we are not exposed to silence, often we may feel uncomfortable in it. Stillness makes us ill at ease. That’s why we flip on the TV, call a friend or play the stereo when we don’t have a real reason to do so.

Earplugs were invented in 1904 to deaden sound and allow us to have silence when we desire. Most of today’s earplugs that we see being worn are wired to receive sound, not block it.

Silence is gold(en), it’s said; and just about as hard to come by these days.