Finding Calm in the Stillness Written by Wanda Rodriguez Written on September 23, 2026 Published on September 30. 2026

Sounds!  

Everywhere we go, sounds.  

Everywhere we turn, sounds. 

We are surrounded by sounds.  

Sounds!  Sounds!  And more sounds!

Life consists of a cacophony of sounds!  How do you differentiate what to let in and what to keep out?  How do we filter the constant bombardment of noise and information being thrust upon us each and every day?  Sometimes, even when there is no audible sound going on around you at all, you might still find the silence to be somewhat deafening.  For that matter, what of our own negative self-talk “train” that we allow to spiral out of control with our thoughts for far too long.  How do we filter the internal and external information and find calm within the stillness?  Later, I will share about a recent encounter of mine on this very subject but first I would like to discuss some typical sounds that one might encounter and some possible accompanying emotions.  

Lets start with joyful sounds, like: that of happy children laughing and playing; birds chirping joyfully as they flutter about, welcoming in the splendor of a new day; the bright music box sounds of the ice cream man approaching; or a humble choir singing sweet praises to our Lord.  In an instant, these sounds impart a state of lightness, calm, and peace.  Your cheeks may rise involuntarily and your eyes brighten, giving way to a broad smile that effortlessly stretches across your face.  Your heart may swell with delight as a pleasant memory rushes to the forefront of your mind.  In the case of the ice cream truck, you may find yourself running through the house yelling, “Ice Cream Man!!” and scouring the house for money (Is that just me?).  Joy can be quite contagious and spread quickly throughout your body and onto others nearby.  What a delight when this happens, especially when you take the time to pause and recognize it for what it is.  

Some sounds are stressful, like: that of the unwelcome jolt of an early morning alarm clock tearing you from peaceful slumber; the unexpected squeal of skidding tires or blaring car horns when driving; or the unmistakable, ear-piercing cry of someone who has been injured and is in need of immediate assistance.  These sounds often produce an automatic response within your body but it is not the joyful, peaceful kind.  These types of sounds might cause your body to stiffen up and your heart to pound, feeling like it might jump right out of your chest.  Your eyes dart about, scanning to locate and assess the situation.  Both body and mind go on high alert as you quickly survey the situation in order to determine the next steps. Your primal instincts might kick into high gear as well!  Fight?  Flight?  Freeze?  Adrenaline pumping!  What needs to be done?  Do I brace for impact?  Who’s hurt?  What’s happening?  Where and how am I needed?  Without thinking about it, your mind and body’s natural reaction is to get ready for action!

Other emotions can be connected to sounds as well.  How about when you hear people arguing about something, anything really.  Do your old pains and biases, carefully cultivated over time by your experiences, make their way to the surface and cloud your interpretation of what might be happening.  How do you react and respond?  Is your knee-jerk reaction to recoil and shrink back into the scenery, in an attempt to stay under some invisible radar and out of the line of fire?  Do you get immediately fired up and jump in head first, with your own guns blazing without really knowing what’s going on?  Do you immediately dismiss it and write someone off as being over reactive, without really understanding the situation?  Do you simply adjust your blinders and keep moving forward?  Does it stay with you and bother you later or do you completely write off the whole thing?  You may approach it differently, there are countless possible responses to circumstances like this one.

What about when someone is hurt or sad.  Let's say you happen upon someone crying.  Do you show compassion by stopping to offer empathy and support, however that might look in the given situation?  Do you again secure those blinders and keep on trucking?  Do you simply look on from a distance and do nothing?  Do you gossip about it with other onlookers?  What if it is someone you know?  What if it is a child?  Your child?  An elderly person?  Some appearing to be homeless?  What if the person is sobbing but they are dressed in a way that makes them appear to be unsavory in some way?  How do all the various factors play into your response, or lack thereof?  How do the echoes of sadness impact you?

What about when you hear someone sharing the word of God? Do you receive it differently if it comes from the front of the church vs. someone on a busy street corner shouting it with a megaphone?  What if the two are saying the exact same thing, word for word?  I don’t know about you but I suspect I would land on me differently if I were the one seeking it, like at church, as opposed to it being force fed by way of a megaphone.  What about strangers knocking on your front door, interrupting your quiet, eager to share their understanding of the word of God?  Are you welcoming or defensive?  Do you even open the door?  It takes a lot of courage to go up to a stranger's door in an attempt to share your beliefs.  I respect their bravery but it admittedly makes me feel uncomfortable and unreceptive.  My walls promptly go up in defense in situations like this and I am typically polite but dismissive, choosing not to let the sounds in.

How about hurtful sounds?  Gossip?  Slander?  Negative self talk?  Ridiculing of others?  Disparaging words of those different from you?  To identify a few, they might have different beliefs, a differing family origin, a skin color that is unlike yours or varying preferences (many things can be plugged into this category, too many to mention).  What then?  How does what they say, through actions or words, resonate with you?  Do you just sit with it?  Do you let it in?  Do you take on their beliefs and opinions as your own?  Do you stand up against injustices, unkindness and that which you don’t believe?  Do you just go with the flow, maybe pausing as needed to readjust and secure those trusty blinders once more?

The experience that I alluded to earlier is about the impact of sounds on me personally.  I recently found myself in a situation that became increasingly uncomfortable.  I sensed no threats and I can not point my finger to any one thing that led to these unsettled feelings but, they were there nonetheless.  It was more of a cumulative effect, revolving around frustrations encountered when trying to secure ear plugs to help manage the exorbitant magnitude of sounds encompassing me. All things considered, this seemed like a relatively easy objective to accomplish, or so I thought.  But unforeseen obstacles, attitudes, encounters and circumstances arose at every turn, preventing me from achieving this very simple task.  I won’t go into detail, as it is not the point of this writing but, I will share that someone suffered a medical emergency just ahead of me on my next to last attempt.  At this point I found myself consumed by concern for this stranger who lay before me, on the ground, and the nearby cries for help (911 was called).  I dismissed my petty needs and placated myself with words of wisdom like: it is not that big a deal; get over it; it’s not worth it; it’s not even that loud and the old reliable; suck it up buttercup.  Afterall, in the big scheme of things, my problems paled in comparison and could be so much worse.

Once the crisis situation was resolved, however, I found myself again in search of ear plugs.  I took one more swing and this time I was successful!  Eureka!  I promptly put them in only to discover that the accumulation of sounds and mounting frustrations thus far produced by the evening were merely muffled and in no way resolved.  If anything, the decibel and pace of the sounds had intensified to a near feverish pitch.  What is going on?  This made zero sense to me and I considered stepping outside to regroup.  Instead, I chose to step inside of myself.  I closed my eyes and I began to pray for God to silence the reverberations of frustrations that seemed to be pouring in and echoing loudly inside my mind.  I asked God to act as my filter, given that the ear plugs were clearly defective.  I asked God to control the chaos that was the culmination of this evening.  

What do you think happened in response to this quiet moment with God?  The distressing symphony of sounds abruptly fell away.  Immediately!  God was now conducting the orchestra of  sounds.  I found calm within the stillness and quiet within the storm.  Nothing had changed around me but inside, peace was restored.  God was with me all along and was quick to act as a filter on my behalf, I had but to ask.  In this time of reflection, I felt God speaking to me about: “hearing through the noise;” “silencing the quiet;” “finding calm in the stillness;” “listening to Him” and; “tuning out the rest.”  I did not hear an audible voice but I felt an undeniable presence encompassed by complete comfort and peace.  I stopped where I was and jotted down all that I heard and felt in that moment (Shout out to my notepad app!).  

In this case, it wasn’t really the ear plugs that I was seeking so desperately, but the quiet calm of God.  Countless obstacles were thrown up in my path to prevent me from learning this lesson.  I’m so glad that I made one final attempt to get the physical ear plugs so that God could reveal the true story to me by providing a real-time filter with His metaphorical ear plugs.  Through this I was reminded of the importance of silencing the voices of anger, contempt, rage, hurt and frustration that might be all around you (or inside of you) at any given moment.  I also learned that no matter how loud those sounds might be (internally and externally) that you have a filter in God and that filter resides inside of you.  It is always there, at the ready, to help you strain out the bad sounds and welcome in the good ones .  Even the murkiest of waters or the most thunderous of sounds do not stand a chance against the Lord God Almighty and the fortress He provides.  You have but to ask, to listen and to seek calm through Him in the stillness of your heart and mind.

Mark 4:39 - “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” 

Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”  

Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”