Class has begun. A carefully orchestrated chaos has engulfed the room, erupting in a cacophony of noise.
A cavalcade of personalities fills the room. Voices ebb and flow, clashing, crashing, like the tide against the rocks. Overwhelmed, the room cannot contain the din and roar of voices that fill it.
Welcome to our Sunday morning Youth class!
Undaunted, I proceed to bring a lesson amid the fray.
And just as suddenly as it began, the noise subsides. Class is over. A door opens and bodies vacate the room. The crowd jostles and hurtles along like chariots in a scene from Ben Hur. Clamor and commotion follow them down the hall, a jangling, strangely harmonious symphony of chaos. What some might describe as noise, to me, sweet melody.
Silence has filled the void. This empty room, once filled, now sits lonely. Except for me. I sit for a moment, after the room has emptied, to collect my thoughts.
The silence is deafening.
Thoughts whirl and twirl around inside my head. The empty room clamors for the raucous crowd that has now fled its confines. I see faces—the expressions of the former occupants. Snapshots of my students come to mind as I take a moment to reflect. I could tell by their expressions, some small part of my lesson resonated with my frenetic audience!
What could I have done better? Could I have been more prepared? What, if anything, did my students take away from the class? I feel more a bystander than a participant.
As I ponder, a smile overcomes me, a sigh escapes me. In the brief respite of sanity that has returned to the room, I reflect on the melee that was.
I breathe a hasty prayer before I dash off to join the boisterous herd descending on the auditorium. And I thank God, for a brief moment, I was allowed to be a part of it.
Epilogue: The Still, Small Voice
My raucous crowd has long since grown and left. The room where we met now stands still, empty. Abandoned. The silence is deafening.
I walked through that same room a few years ago and sat still. Both the room and I seemed ... deserted. We both sighed a sigh and longed for days long past.
And in the silence, I wonder, could I hear that still, small voice in the silence?
No strong winds blew, no fierce fire raged. And no earthquake shook the rocks. But in the silence, He spoke. The time has passed, though well spent. And I realize, I was as much the student as the teacher.
I say nothing. No words from my lips disturb the quiet. The strong, silent Eloah speaks. Loudly, the voice fills my mind: Be still and know that I am God.
Today, wherever you are, in the silence, He speaks.