Loudness

Everything they did was loud.
They spoke loudly.
They laughed loudly.
If truth be told, they even whispered loudly.

It was hard to tell if their loudness was simply the tone of their voice.
Annunciation and voice projection was never a problem for them.
There was one problem; however.
No matter what they said, they sounded angry.

They could have been reading the dictionary and it would have sounded like an argument.
They could have been reading a fairy tale and it would have frightened the children.
They were very used to their volume level.
They knew that they were simply talking; it was not their problem how it sounded.

But it was.
They could have modified their tone.
They could have adjusted their volume.
Then their words would have been more effective.

Even when they called their dog inside, it was loud.
You could hear their voices up and down the street.
Nothing sounded pleasant.
Nothing sounded soothing.

Little children in strollers, who are affected by tone and verbal cues, would actually cry.
Their heart did not match the way their words sounded.
No one believed that, however.
After a while, people tuned out their rantings.

On the sidelines of a sporting event, no one could cheer over them.
When their team made a mistake, there was no grace.
When the other team made a mistake, there was no grace.
That became the way of things: there was simply no grace.

At a back to school night, they were the ones who asked the questions.
Everyone turned to see the people yelling from the back of the room.
Their demeanor put people off.
No one knew how to take them, so they pulled away; you could see people pull away.

When a situation arose in the town, they were the first at the town meeting.
Even though they had good thoughts and proposals, no one listened.
They looked as if they had just put their boxing gloves on and were ready to step in the ring.
Everything was a confrontation.

Politically, they were considered activists.
Even when their protest was valid, their tone was not.
Loud was all they knew.
Their volume put people off; people refused to listen to them any more.

They were the first ones in the protest line with their placards.
They were the first ones to voice their opinion on any issue.
They were the first ones to rant, and rave, and complain.
Their tone offended people even more than their words.

Their words became white noise after a while.
Their words were a din that was always in the background.
It was no different from the hum of a vacuum cleaner.
They were not heard; no one listened any more.

No one had listened for quite a while.
No one took the time to tell the people why their words were ineffective.
Battle lines were drawn over decibels.
Their loud words were unable to be heard.

About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.  A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.  As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly. (Acts 19:23-41)

Today’s political climate is much like the riot in Ephesus.
Tempers flare, sides are taken, battle lines are drawn, and the volume goes up.
After a while, noise is all you hear.
Respectful public discourse is forgotten.

There is a volatility in the public square that is reaching the boiling point.
After a while, propriety takes a back seat.
The argument becomes personal.
The pronoun, it, becomes the pronoun, you; the volume gets louder with fingers pointing.

Then a Voice comes on the scene.
People have to stop yelling in order to hear it.
People have to be quiet to hear the Voice that speaks out of the storm.
All becomes still.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you will answer Me. (Job 38:2,3)

The volume goes down when God speaks.
All the rhetoric, all the volatility, all the anger will evaporate like fog in the presence of God.
Funny thing is, God is present everywhere.
There is not a place where God is not.

Have we forgotten?
Are we shouting so loudly that we are not even listening any more?
God will get our attention.
At that moment, quiet is the only thing we can be.