learning

“Shut up and maybe you’ll learn something!”

How many times have you heard that command at school or home? Has it  become a daily utterance you bark to your family?

Too harsh, but there’s something to the notion of keeping silent. The expression intends to do some good, to create the right conditions for education. Quiet frees us to observe and learn. It succeeds in the classroom and, as I discovered, it also works in the great outdoors.

When I was a kid, I was part of a Boy Scout troop and each year at the start of summer vacation we’d take off to a week-long summer camp. My first trip was in the Catskills, a mountain range located in upstate New York. I had a blast being out in the woods, but two events taught me something valuable.

Early in the week, I was one of the few boys up for breakfast. Seated at a picnic table eating some toast with jelly, I looked down and saw a chipmunk nearby. I suppose he was more hungry than scared because when I spotted him, he didn’t bolt. Instead, he inched a little closer. So I dabbed some jelly on the tip of my knife and lowered it to him. Instead of backing away, he strolled up to the gift and began eating it. I didn’t utter a word so as not to frighten him; I was curious to see how long this could last. When he licked up most of the jelly, I gradually lifted up the knife, dipped it into the jelly container, and offered him a second sample. This took place a few times before the chipmunk called it quits and waddled off.

Back home, animals don’t approach people like that. Had he never seen a human being before?

A couple of days later, we conducted a 20 mile hike–10 miles up and down three mountains, a break for lunch, then 10 miles back. That morning, about 20 or 30 of us embarked after breakfast, full of food and energy.

And noise!

Everyone had something to say about the walk or life or each other. I suppose our racket kept the wildlife away because the only creature we detected was a porcupine who, when he saw us, scurried into a hole near some rocks and a cliff wall. One of the Scouts took off his t-shirt, wrapped it around the end of a stick, and poked at the poor thing, hoping to nab some quills. He managed to get a couple!

When we reached the halfway point, we dropped to the ground. Happy talk yielded to complaining, and then chowing down our meal. After a brief rest, we had to head back so we’d arrive at camp before sunset.

But the hike was taking its toll. Our morning vitality spent, we walked on willpower alone. And we quit talking. Had to save our strength!

We also broke into small groups. Some kids had trouble keeping up, so they banded together and lagged behind. I stayed with one of the groups up front, but again, we hardly spoke.

In the quiet, animals emerged.

We were walking along when one of the Scouts froze and screamed. I couldn’t see what freaked him out, but it turned out to be a copperhead snake sunning itself across the trail! We don’t have many snakes where I grew up, so this was interesting! We circled around it and pressed on.

We took a few breaks on the way back and on one of them, I noticed a mother deer and her fawn standing about 20 feet away. Curious to see how close I could get to them, I took one step, then another slow one, then another. At about 10 feet or so, she decided I’d come close enough and backed up. Then the pair disappeared into the thicket.

The deer and the snake were out in the wilderness the whole time, but we saw them only when we were quiet.

In Listening Below the Noise (135-136), Anne LeClaire quotes her husband: “‘If you can sit still,’ he said, ‘so much comes to you.’ If we can sit still. That is the trick. Animals know this. And hunters and naturalists. And artists. All recognize the importance of holding quiet, of observing.”

To learn from a quiet creation, we must first quiet ourselves. It opens possibilities of experiential learning. The path of discipleship.

But do we want wisdom from Jesus?

“A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind.” – Proverbs 18:2 (NASB)

Which do we prefer, our ideas or God’s thoughts?

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” – Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

Stilling ourselves before the Lord gives us the breakthroughs we long for.

“The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” – Exodus 14:14 (NASB)

We cannot afford to neglect silence.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.’” – Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

The choice is ours.