Quiet Time

On September 11th, it is traditional to have a moment of silence at the hour when planes and gasoline and hell rained down on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. We stop – just stop – for a moment, and quietly mourn the lost, thank the brave, and pray for strength. That moment of silence is a respite in memory of anguish suffered and sacrifices made, and in tribute to the unity we all felt then. But, the moment is insufficient, because seven years later, we are more divided, more angry, more loud than ever.

We went from standing together to standing against. We grit our teeth, shake our fists, and lay all our problems, pain and fear at the feet of the “other”: the other party, the other race, the other sex, or any other “other” we can nail for what ails us. We are sarcastic, bitter and much too prickly. We are quick to anger, quick to blame, and excruciatingly slow to forgive. We seek a champion for our discontent, when we should be pulling together to solve our problems. We ignore solutions that don’t come from the right source: us. And, the only time we truly look in the mirror is when we are seeking the evil that has to be lurking just over our shoulder.

Maybe we just need more quiet time.

So, I’d like to propose that the 9/11 moment of silence be extended. Let’s have an Hour of Silence. Better still, let’s have a Day of Silence. And, let’s not have it once a year. How about we start out with a Day of Silence every six months, and see how it goes.

During that Day of Silence, let’s all just SHUT THE HELL UP. No arguments, accusations or recriminations. No insults or sarcasm. No attacks and counter-assaults. No sly innuendo. No gossip. No whisper down the lane. No talk shows. No interviews. Gag the pundits. Gag those pundits too. Jesus, where the $%*& are all these pundits coming from? No shouting at each other across picket lines. Spokes-models have a mandatory day off. Opinion-makers can keep it to themselves. Faction-building is on hiatus. Lower the volume on the Special Comments and the sermons and the Shouting-with-Indignity. More Shhh! and less Snark will be the rule of the day. Whatever mean thing you have to say, can wait until tomorrow. Zip the dark stuff.

Just. Be. Quiet.

Listen to the birds sing. Listen to the wind. Listen to the rain drip from the leaves. Listen to the sunset. Hear the lonely whistle of the train in the distance. Smile.

Hell, we’ll even make an exemption for laughing out loud.

Oh, and kids are exempt too. We wouldn’t want to be cruel.