Absolute silence. A place where you can hear the blood circulating in your body, not just your heartbeat but flowing. No sound reflection, no outside sound nor vibration. Nothing. An anechonic chamber that does not reflect or transmit sound. No echo when you clap your hands or pop a balloon.

After about an hour, hallucinations begin in the dark and your mind begins to hear and see things that supposedly, are not there. How do we know this? The world’s record is around an hour and a half to be in there. Try one sometime and let me know how long you lasted.

How much of our life is in silence? None of it really. I remember sounds from my childhood that still move me. I hear melodies after they have ceased. Several repetitions of my son’s alarm clock when I am up ahead of him. “Is it still playing those few staffs? No” Why do I hear them?

Even the washer and dryer which sing ten note songs. Silent in the house as I am in the kitchen at 4 am. I hear them several times, clearly and I know it is not playing. It only does it once when it’s done.

The desert fathers in Egypt in the first and second centuries knew silence. Pretty quiet then. The whisper of wind. What did they hear? Something we do not hear well, if at all. Right now I hear my tinnitus and the wind of the humidifier. The clatter of my keyboard and the slight rustle of a paper bag with a cat in it. Noisy.

I remember when I was living in the big city of Minneapolis and the roar of the freeways nearby could be heard 24/7. I got used to it and then I moved to Northwest Wisconsin. I visited the old west bank neighborhood and wondered what the noise was. Sounded like an amp on with no input, just white noise from a big 15 inch JBL and a crossover with an EV horn.

I often wonder at the small amount of wisdom I been blessed to read about Father Anthony, one of the more well known desert fathers. Also the Maharishi of the Himalaya’s, these were some of the early ones who heard whispers from our creator. He is often been described as speaking in a still, small voice. I know this to be true from a few precious experiences.

“Silence is Golden” Why? Sounds like it’s worth a lot! Scarcity always drives prices up. “Hold your tongue”, awkward thing but we get the idea. Try to listen. There is a voice crying in the wilderness and it is crying ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ I will have to do more of that perhaps! Instead of chattering on and on about me, I could just listen and find out who I am and why I am here. Were the desert fathers and mothers bored? I don’t know, I wasn’t there.

I get bored when there is no one to hear me dazzle them with acquired wisdom. I usually don’t acquire it the hard way, I read and repeat, and write and give credit where credit is due. I am usually just a wise guy but ‘I got better!’ those who know me know what I am referring to with those three words. It’s pretty good. Jack Gator