Silent No More 3/31/2024

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

I heard something said a few days ago, that resonated with me far more than I anticipated. It so profoundly affected me that my mind did me the favor of grasping what was a single sentence and running with it. Actually, it didn’t just run with it, it flew. It roused ideas I have pondered in the past and it birthed new concepts I hadn’t really considered. It even stirred in me some very passionate responses that I wasn’t even aware were such points of fiery sentiment. I suppose I have rambled enough and should end the suspense and give you the statement. The speed at which darkness moves is determined ONLY by the speed at which light retreats.

It was as if I had been slapped in the face. I fully expected my thought processes to wander off to light and darkness and the eternal conflict, but it did not. Not exactly. And that is likely something for which, if you are a regular reader, you are likely thankful because it may well be a topic I have slightly exhausted.  Focus fell on my role in the retreat. What am I doing to allow darkness to spread?  What part have I played in making light be pushed out? Surely, I am not doing anything that would be conducive to any ill will or negativity?  I can’t possibly be responsible for anything of the sort, can I? I pondered to myself and did not receive any answer which I took to mean that I hadn’t been guilty of such things. I do not mean to imply I am perfect and haven’t had my share of shortcomings, but I felt that most certainly the silence in my mental review meant that for the most part I was an agent of good.

But as I let my mind take these sentiments where they would, it occurred to me that silence may have been the answer that I sought. It is very true that no answer can sometimes give an answer which one did not at all intend to give. I thought of the state of our society today and all the outright evil that is vomited at us from every media outlet. It would seem that the world is full of all sorts of awfulness. But that can’t be the case, can it? I feel I am a pretty decent human being. And how many of us know countless examples of friends, family and neighbors who are quality people. We all know those salt of the earth types that we are proud to know and that have played major parts in the betterment of our lives. The good appears in all forms from tiny, unexpected acts of kindness to massive feats of generosity.  Yet five minutes watching the news convinces us that normal, run of the mill good citizens are a thing of the past. A convincing picture is painted that good people don’t exist anymore. Everyone is either a criminal or some raging lunatic on some fringe of an ideology who wants to destroy all that we hold dear.

It seems to me though, that the good people are actually the majority.  But why is it then, that we remain silent?  When we do not speak up for what is good and true, and by all means please understand that I am speaking fervently to myself as much as anyone, we are progressing the retreat of light. It is as much our fault that darkness is encroaching when we do not defend the flame as it is those who are pouring water on the wicks. Why is it that we do not put up more of a fight for the good? I shudder to think, but I think we have been so conditioned by our society that we are not being louder because we fear offending someone.

We have sadly become a generation of people that equate being offended with being beaten in the head with an axe.  I wish I were being overly dramatic but, alas. There are a great many, very vocal people today that think that being offended is the most heinous of crimes that can be committed against someone. I do not understand how we have such a high population of people who are incapable of coping with a difference of opinion.  At what point were so many taught that free speech meant everyone must agree with me or else I will attack them as if they had attempted to set me on fire?

The thing is, Light and Truth are often very offensive.  When someone or something is using the dark to hide what is nefarious, the light will be appalling and foul. But it is necessary. Truth can often be terribly painful to its recipient and agonizingly difficult for the one that delivers it. But here is the thing; it is love. Real love does not fill you full of lies and tickle your ears telling you things you want to hear and not what you need to hear.  That isn’t love that is manipulation.  I say it is time that we, the silent majority stop speeding the retreat of light by standing by while darkness pushes us out of the room. We can no longer be idle. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  He was so right.

How many of us, after reveling in the foul stench left in the room after watching the evening news, have sat about bemoaning all the things that are just wrong and terrible?  We have all done it. Well, if we are so opposed, then we must speak up. Let me be the first to not only protect the light but fan the flame. Let me be the first to speed the retreat of darkness. It cannot overcome the Light. No shadow has ever or will ever be able to put it out but even the tiniest spark can send even the deepest of blackness running. It’s time the silent majority that does want to stand for what is right and good becomes the loud voice that they have all the capability of being. If we fix our thoughts (as well as our actions) on what is true, honorable, right, pure and lovely and focus on things that are excellent and worthy of praise imagine how much we can push back the darkness. It’s time we make the darkness stand by helpless as we, as a people, begin to shine like the noonday sun.