by Joanne Wiklund
Craving quiet is something I’ve been doing often. But noise tends to intrude. This morning I stuck my head out the front door to get a whiff of fresh air and heard an incredible noise coming closer and closer on the wind. A train was going upriver over on the Iowa side and the wind was carrying the sound over here. Having heard that a tornado sounds like a freight train, it got my attention right away. I waited as the sound got closer and closer. Soon it was coming from more up river, so I was sure then it was a train. Usually I hear the whistle, but there was none. The fact that the wind picked up about the same time didn’t help matters any either. The clouds were so low I think they were holding the sound down.
These days I like quiet most of the time. I don’t consider myself a quiet person. I love to laugh and hear other people laugh. Occasionally, though, I put on old records, (45 rpm) remember those? Or a CD with rock and roll. I did that this morning, but by the time I got to end of it, I was wondering: What’s the difference between music and noise? Is it the perception of the listener or the prowess of the performer? My parents were never crazy about the music we loved in the fifties, but then their parents probably weren’t that crazy about the music of their generation. After all, there’s a difference between Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
Gospel music never goes out of style. Why do so many performers end their concerts with a gospel song? The message makes it music to the listener, I believe. So I researched the question and I was surprised with the quantity and quality of the answers to this question. I can’t use it all here, but one writer did explain how silence is not the opposite of noise. It is actually a sound. I also found that music is a sound that produces a pleasing sensation. It is produced by nature, musical instruments, human voice, etc. Noise is an unwanted and unpleasant sound produced by horns of vehicles, by machines, etc. If a musical sound is made too loud, it becomes a noise. For the full explanation of that, just research the question. All I know is that life would be so boring without music of all kinds. One of the best sounds of music is children singing. This church has a reputation for encouraging that!
Genesis 4:20-21 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21: And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
Ezekial 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.
Numbers: 21:17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O Well: sing ye unto it.
