Quiet, Please!!!

I'm supposin' that most folks have noticed as I have how very difficult it is to find a place where it is truly quiet. It seems that everywhere you go there is always something man is doing or is man made that is making noise. On many of our public transportation conveyances and even our automobiles noise has been a very significant problem that engineers have been tackling. They have made great strides in trying to reduce the problem but haven't been able to eliminate it completely. What they have done in some cases is to add even more noise! Yep! They call it white noise. A supposedly more agreeable noise to mask obnoxious noises. Imagine that!
Even in nature there is considerable noise. Birds chirruping and the wind blowing to mention only a couple of things. Yes! I have actually been awakened out of a sound sleep by the raucous chatter of birds at the crack of dawn on a Sabbath morning! Have you ever wished you could have it truly quiet for at least a little while? I have!
Now I know how some folks enjoy having something happening around them all the time. They like having a radio going or the TV and some even say they study better with a little music going. In many stores and restaurants there is what some refer to as supermarket music playing. There are some people who like having a radio going when they try to go to sleep. All that is OK with me but it isn't what I would prefer all the time. I enjoy a great many different kinds of sounds as much as anyone. Chopin's 1st piano concerto, a bit of country music, the sound of a good running V8 engine or the gorgeous sound of a V16 diesel locomotive or the screams of happy children or the plaintiff cry of a small kitten to name just a few. I would like to include in my list of sounds the lovely sound of quiet.
When I am able to have it quiet I find it so much easier to think. I read something awhile back by a person of intellectual renown expressing his observation of how there seemed to be less reflective thinking among people of the modern generations. I hope this isn't really true, but I do wonder how people can think with so much noise in the air.
I personally find it necessary to have regular times of quiet to achieve and maintain a quiet spirit. For me I find it necessary to have a quiet spirit in order to hear God's voice. Many people over the years have asked me the question, How do I hear or know God's voice or will? There is no doubt that God is able to make Himself heard or make His will known in any venue and will do so at times. But for me I find I hear God's voice speaking to my heart most often when I am regularly spending time quietly doing prayerful reflective thinking on His word with all of the world's clamour shut out.