The Sound of Silence

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011817.cfm
Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17
Mark 3:1-6

One of the songs of mid-sixties was Simon and Garfunkel’shit “The Sounds of Silence”.  The song,written by Paul Simon, had a haunting melody and thought provoking lyrics. Thethird verse went like this:

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voicesnever share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.

It was a time of great civil unrest.  The United States was in the middle of theVietnam War.  Martin Luther King, Jr. wasmarching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Beatlemania was sweeping the world, and was often referred to as the“British Invasion” by a music industry overwhelmed by the likes of The Beatles,The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Herman’s Hermits.

Indeed, it was at a time when Nobel Literature Award winnerBob Dylan assured us “The Times They AreA Changin' ” from his song of the same name.

It was the mid-sixties, and I was in junior high school.Like many youth at that time, I listened to a lot of music.  I lived in Indiana, and was able to receiveradio station WLS, the rock and roll powerhouse out of Chicago.  They played a wide mix of rock, British rock,surfer groups, and folk pop music.  Iliked it all!

It’s funny how a song imprints itself in your brain.Researchers have found that in addition to remembering the words and melody,most people, when asked to sing a verse of a favorite song, will actually singit in the original key, that is, starting at the same piano note as theoriginal recording.

Many years and countless songs later, these musical memoriesare mysteriously packed away in the brain, waiting to be triggered.  Memories of “The Sound of Silence” snapped into my consciousness as I reflectedon today’s gospel reading. The third chapter of Mark starts with the story ofthe man with the withered hand.

Jesus enters the synagogue under the close scrutiny of thePharisees.  He was already taking heatfor his disciples gathering a small amount of grain to eat on the Sabbath. This“work” of collecting food appeared to some as being in violation of thecommandment to “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy”.

To the Pharisees, it looked like Jesus was about to “work”on the Sabbath.  Jesus calls the man withthe withered hand forward.  Maybe thesight of a man who cannot work to support himself and his family would inspirepity amongst his detractors.

Jesus asks “is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath ratherthan to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”

Silence. . .

Like the song said, “people listening without hearing”

Jesus looked at them with anger. . .  not the anger we would have at the aggressivedriver that cuts us off.  Jesus feels thefull anger of God towards the sin of indifference being displayed by thePharisees, the “hardness of their hearts”. Jesus grieves at the state of the world around him.

Had Simon and Garfunkel been around a couple thousand yearsago, their words might have reflected the Lord’s feelings:

Fools, said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teachyou
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words, like silent raindropsfell
And echoed in the wells of silence.

Garfunkel once summed up the song's meaning as "theinability of people to communicate with each other, not particularlyinternationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you arepeople unable to love each other."

Is it coincidence that Isaiah 42:20 says, “You see manythings but do not observe;  ears open,but do not hear?” 

I don’t think so.  Somany of today’s problems are from a lack of communications, actually LISTENINGto the other person’s concerns and needs, and being given the respect of havingyour views considered.

If Rosa Parks silently moved to the back of the bus, perhapsthe conversation on civil rights would never have happened.

Ten years later, if Martin Luther King, Jr. would havesilently decided to not march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, would we havehad a black president in the United States?

Today, we have a sharply divided political environment.  What do you think, might this be a problem oflistening and not hearing?

Jesus performs another miracle, without touching the manwith the withered hand. . .  “Stretch outyour hand”.  He stretched it out, and hishand was restored.

Clearly the work of God. But is this the “work on the Sabbath” that had been prohibited?

The Pharisees have it all wrong.  Even to the point at this moment ofconspiring with the Herodians to kill Jesus. Seems to me that another commandment is being ignored.  They are too caught up in their own feelingsof power and importance to listen and hear, see and observe the many teachingand acts of Jesus.

My mind once again drifts back to the 60’s, this time to themovie Cool Hand Luke, where we hear:

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate!”