Actress Marlee Matlin has become a household name among Americans who show any interest in theatre or cinema. She won an Oscar at the age of 21 for starring as Sarah Norman in Children of a Lesser God, the youngest actor to receive the best actress award. She also won a Golden Globe for her role in the film. Her autobiography I’ll Scream Later tells her life and what it’s like to grow up deaf in America. She also shares about her tumultuous relationship with actor William Hurt and other celebrities, as well as her battle with addiction, her rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Clinic and her advocacy for the rights of the deaf. She clearly has not allowed her deafness to prevent her from living a full, albeit at times, troubled life. Like many I confess I have not read the her autobiography, except the reviews and I also only vaguely remember the movie. Matlin herself says she hopes for the day when celebrities who are deaf, or are somehow “different” will be remembered not for their unique characteristic but for who they are. She says:

“At some point we have to stop and say, ’There’s Marlee’, not, ’There’s the deaf actress.’”

My first intimate exposure with someone who is deaf was when I took a case in American Sign Language at the University of Southern Maine. The woman, Lenore Borener, required us to be immersed in the world, not only of a different language, but what it was like to live in a world without sound. She allowed one class with an interpreter and after that we were not allowed to speak at all for three hours twice a week.

Like most deaf people, Lenore was extremely observant, and when two young women were talking with a textbook held up so block their mouths which were moving. Lenore walked over and grabbed the book from the students, signing the word for “no” grabbed the book from the students, signing the word for “no” with her hands. We had at least learned that at this point.

I remember asking her through the interpreter if she ever thought about music. “I have no relationship with music,” she said. Those of us who were hearing felt a bit of sadness, as music was a very important part of our lives. Beethoven, as we know, went deaf before he wrote his Ninth Symphony, which many critics believe was his greatest. My sixth grade music teacher said he wrote by feeling the vibrations on the piano, but I learned in college that that was not the case. Beethoven could look at a score and hear the music in his head. My professor said he insisted on conducting at the Ninth’s premier but allowed for a backup conductor in case he or the orchestra got lost. The orchestra was secretly told to follow the backup conductor and not the Master. Apparently, Beethoven intended the last movement to be played much faster, because he concluded and sat down while the orchestra and backup conductor continued for several more minutes.

One wonders what a deaf person hears in their mind. How do they imagine sound? Does someone, like Beethoven, who became deaf in middle age, hear in their head differently than someone like my professor Lenore, who was born deaf?

Today’s Old Testament reading in the King James contains those famous words about Elijah hearing the “still, small voice of God.” The New Revised Standard Version, which you heard today, says, “the sound of sheer silence;” the New American Standard version says, “A sound of gentle blowing,” and the “New International Version” says, “A gentle whisper.” Clearly there are many translations of this cryptic verse. The Hebrew, “Kol demama daqqah” could be literally translated, “voice - still, or silent - gentle, small or fine. This last word, daqqah in Hebrew, is sometimes used to refer to finely word, daqqah in Hebrew, is sometimes used to refer to finely ground sweet incense, as in Leviticus 16:12. This is why in some translations it says, “soft” or “gentle” in referring to what Elijah heard, or did not hear. While my personal preference will always be the “still small voice” I can see the idea behind the “sound of sheer silence” - and I’m not referring here to the Simon and Garfunkel song, though I could fathom the connection. What do you hear, or not hear, when you listen to the silence? Do you hear anything? Do you hear faint background noises, or do you hear your own heart beating? In college we were taken into a sound chamber, a room with walls that were a few feet thick and which had foam padding also several feet thick. We were asked to sit in absolute silence in the room and listen for any noises we heard. The professor said that after several hours in this chamber one can hear the blood sloshing through her arteries.

So as an exercise today I want us to take a minute or two and sit in silence. I know you may have background noises in your home but try and focus on the silence and let your mind, as much as you can, blot out any noises around you…

(Wait at least 60 seconds.)

Ok, now I’m going to ask you what you hear? Please, if you don’t mind, share with the rest of us what you heard.

It is interesting that today’s scripture speaks of silence following the storm and earthquakes that are deafening. It reminds me of soldiers who talk of the silence that follows a loud battle with the sound of shells exploding and bullets whizzing past. I’ve heard some say that it’s the artillery shell you don’t hear that has your number. People who have been struck by lightning and survived also say that they didn’t hear anything after seeing the lightening also say that they didn’t hear anything after seeing the lightening and the only sensation was the smell of sulfur and the crackling of static electricity as their hair stood on end. Clearly, silence can, at times, be terrifying. Was Elijah terrified at this point? He had waited out the wind, earthquake and fire and now, in the almost deafening silence he goes to the entrance of the cave to hear the voice of God. Did he go with confidence or with fear and trepidation. Clearly he anticipated an encounter with the Holy as he shrouded his face. Rabbis as they read certain portions of the Torah, especially when they say the Holy Name of God, will cover their eyes, so as not to look on the Face of God.

Today’s epistle reading from Romans, chapter 10, speaks of where we can go to hear the word of God. Shall we climb the heights, even fly to the moon, to outer space. By the way, there is no noise in outer space, despite the sound of the Evil Empire’s fighter planes in Star Wars, for there is no air in space and without air there are no sound waves. Perhaps we should climb mount Sinai, as Elijah did. Should we descend to the depths of the oceans, as in the movie the Abyss, or to Sheol or even hell. Perhaps Hell is silent. Paul suggests we might even look to the dead. Kierkegaard spoke of visiting his father’s grave. He said that the love he had for his father as he stood at the grave was the purest form of love because his father was silent and he heard nothing to assure him his father loved or approved of him.

No, as we hear in today’s reading:

The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.

God’s word we can hear, Paul says, if we truly listen, perhaps we should add, with the ears of faith. We hear a perhaps we should add, with the ears of faith. We hear a great deal about the eyes of faith, that God is invisible to our naked eyes, but with eyes of faith, we can see God. But today’s reading focuses instead of hearing God in silence, listening and believing that God speaks.

So now I want us to engage in a second exercise. I want us to take a few moments in silence and ask what we think God is saying to us now? Again, when we finish I will invite you to share, though I hesitate to say this in advance because our tendency is to concentrate on what we are going to say. Instead let go of any preconceptions. If nothing comes to you, well, then, that is fine. If nothing comes to anyone today that they want to share that is fine too. (Silence)

(Sharing)

When I was in seminary we had a morning service that was run by a Quaker. There’s an old game teachers in Pennsylvania used to play with students called “Quaker meeting”. It was a way to get students to be silent. Our leader at Princeton Seminary encouraged to be quiet and only stand and speak when we felt we truly were hearing what the Holy Spirit was saying to us. Well. you should know we Presbyterians are not known for being quiets. After a few awkward moments a student stood up to speak, then another and another. And before long practically everyone was vying for a chance to speak. Instead of a “gentle silence” we had a cacophony of voices all saying their peace. Perhaps God is waiting for us to shut up long enough so God can speak. I’ve heard it said that God has good manners, and can speak. I’ve heard it said that God has good manners, and perhaps God waits “his turn to speak” so to speak (no pun intended here.)

Today’s gospel reading tells the story of the disciples terrified as they are in the storm on the Sea of Galilee. This sea is small but I hear it can have some violent storms. Last week, as tropical storm Isaias hit Maine the weather forecasters were keeping their eye on Sebago lake. Like the Sea of Galiilee, Sebago lake is about 20 miles long. A relatively small body of water but one known for small but violent storms. Some say they have seen the funnels clouds of tornadoes on this lake. So it is understandable the disciples were afraid. Their Lord was not with them and as they bailed water they suddenly saw Jesus walking on the water. They were even more terrified as they thought this was a spirit or ghost, perhaps an evil spirit. like the mirages sailors have said they sometimes see on the seas.

Jesus tells them that they need not fear, for it is he, and then Peter asks if he too can walk on the water. As he steps out of the boat he is at first amazed, but as he thinks about what is happening and sees the water he begins to sink. He cries out for Jesus to save him. Again, we might wonder why he didn’t just swim, but as I’ve learned about fishermen in Maine, many of them can’t swim. Most of my neighbors at our summer cabin on the Bay of Fundy can’t swim. Indeed, some say, why bother, the water is so cold it is better to drown than die of hyperthermia. Jesus grabs Peter and steps into the boat. Immediately the water is calm and the storm subsides.

Like Elijah at the cave, when God appears everything gets calm. Even the wind and the earthquakes obey him. Indeed, they all bow in silence before God. If the wind and seas are silent before God, why are we constantly jabbering? The United Church of Christ a few years ago had a campaign where signs were outside their churches saying, “God is still speaking.” It is a somewhat cryptic saying which refers to the idea that God continues to bring to us new truths and new revelations. The bible has been written but the Holy Spirit continues to speak, through scripture, through the words of others around us who cry for peace and justice and through our own hearts. What is God saying to us today? Are we listening? Can we listen? Perhaps we must listen, to be quiet long enough to give God a chance to speak.