Lighted Tower Newsletter

The Lighted Tower

Church Phone: (203) 235-1389

Church E-mail: secretary@centerchurchmeriden.org

Church Website: www.centerchurchmeriden.org

Listen and Silent

Have you ever noticed that the words listen and silent contain the same letters?  Although they have different meanings, it seems fitting that they share six letters in common.  The word listen comes from Old English and Germanic roots; silent came into English through French and thus has Latin roots.  The words, therefore, have no etymological or historical connections.  And yet when you notice that they share the same letters, you feel that it is right that they should.  I wonder why this feeling comes to us.

Before proceeding further, I note that there are four other anagrams with these six letters: enlist, inlets, leints, and tinsel. These words do not seem to inspire the same sense of a connection as listen and silent do.  While enlist may marginally elicit from us a notion that it is related to listen, the others clearly have no connections.  (You may be unfamiliar with the word leints.  It means, of all things, ‘to urinate into an alcoholic beverage to increase its strength.’  I don’t imagine many of us will rush home to test this fact.)

Turning again to our two words, let us first examine what the words listen and silent mean and how they are used.  Listen is a verb.  In its earliest occurrences in the written record, it is connected to the root word ‘to hear.’  This fact seems obvious.  But as the two words continued to develop, hear become more to signify what happens when sound is registered by the mind/brain on the unconscious, passive, automatic level.  Listen became the word choice to indicate that intention, purpose, and consciousness are at play.  So, when we ask, for example, “Are you listening?” we want to know if what we have said has been attended to or whether it was only heard as sound or noise.  The key here is the issue of attention: were the words or sounds received and heeded, or ignored or tuned out?  Another way of looking at it is to consider if the mind of one person has connected to that of another.  Was information received?  Did empathy occur?  Was interest piqued?  Did understanding happen?  When we speak, we have the expectation that our words will be listened to.

Consider for a moment the shema of Deuteronomy 6:4. The English translation reads “Hear, O Israel” in the opening words.  We trust that the word hear here is an accurate translation of the Hebrew.  What may the word signify to us:  1) hear what I say; 2) listen to what I say; 3) attend to what I say; 4) heed what I say; 5) mind what I say; 6) do not ignore what I say; and 7) do not tune out what I say?  Even if the Hebrew word in the text might better be translated today as “Listen, O Israel,” we still get the sense to understand what is intended by Moses in his speech to be related to our question of the felt connection between our two key words. 

Here, I think also, we get a sense of how silent fits with listen.  Imagine, for a moment, that Moses stands before the people.  He has been talking to them about what the LORD has said to them.  In the midst of his oratory, he stopped.  He says, “Hear, O Israel:.”  This colon in the English version indicates that a dramatic stop occurs.  It tells the reader that the import of follows is of such a great degree that the speaker has to make a special appeal to be heard (or listened to).  What is the proper response of the crowd:  To be expectantly and attentively silent?  “I have something to announce!”  Wait for it, wait for it.  “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone” (NRSV, also translated “The LORD our God is one LORD.” KJV).  Let us keep this moment in mind as we examine our second word.

Silent is an adjective.  We use it to describe a noun, as in “Silent Night.”  Hence silent gives ‘atmosphere’ or ‘character’ to the noun.  If we say that a man is ‘the silent type,’ we indicate that he doesn’t say much, or that he generally says no more than is necessary.  The silent night is quiet, still, and calm.  The silent majority are those who, for whatever reason, do not speak up with either assent or dissent about the affairs of their time and place.  Thus, we see that silent can be used to indicate strength or weakness, spiritual concentration or laxity, moral apathy or engagement.  It may mean heroic fortitude or cowardly submission.  It may signal eager anticipation or fatalistic resignation.  The use of silent in a sentence demands that the following sentences tell or show us how and why it is silent.  If this follow-up is not offered, we wonder why the writer or speaker has bothered to use the word at all.  So, if we read (or hear), “The silent house overwhelmed Veronica,” we want to learn what this description tells us about Veronica and the moment which she is experiencing.  Failure to expand the image more deeply is a failure of story-telling.

Both listen and silent also apply to other kinds of expression.  For instance, they are important aspects of music.  Mozart famously said, “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”  Sound and the absence of sound constitute the essence of music.  This is also true of speech.  The pauses, indicated in writing by commas, semi-colons, colons, and periods, question marks, or exclamation points, give shape to the meaning and emphasis to the words.  Also, we experience some of the same feeling in nature.  When Julie Andrews sings, “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” it conjures in our “mind’s ear” the sound of bees and birds, the wind rustling in the trees and water flowing over rocks, the chatter of squirrels and the howl of a wolf, and other natural sounds.  Mixed with these sounds are the moments of silence in nature.  While we may not expect to find meaning in them, these sounds stir our feelings, memories, and thoughts.  If we are listening to the sound of music in nature, we are also aware of the silence also present: the two sing to us.

So, finally, wherein lays the sense of the aptness of listen and silent connecting in our minds?  Since it cannot be demonstrated by historical and etymological means, the aptness must be in the mental and emotional sphere.  Or, perhaps it is in the realm of the spiritual and mystic.  Whatever the source, in practice we exercise self-control when we listen by being silent in mind and speech.  To listen is to be silent.  If we are busy thinking how we will respond, refute, or rebut, we are not listening with the attention necessary to be authentically addressed.  If we are impatiently awaiting our turn to speak, with our minds racing to find the right encouragement, counter-argument, or addition to the one talking with us, we cannot be interacting on a fully attentive level.  Empathy and understanding cannot take place in the moment.  Information, instruction, or interaction fails to be relayed.  By the same token, only if we listen can the silence speak to us.  Think of 1 Kings 19:11-13:  After the noise and furor of the wind, an earthquake, and fire, Elijah hears the “still small voice” of God.  We should imagine that just before the voice speaks, the moment is silent.  Elijah, every nerve taut with expectation, listens.  While the LORD in not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, the LORD is present in a whisper.  The silent listener, the moment of silence, and the One who in speech makes true contact:  these are the elements that reside in our sense of the fitting relation of listen and silent.  Because they are apt, we have a duty to practice them.  In this duty, our prayers open us to the God who speaks and who listens.  In this duty, we love in the way that Jesus showed and taught us.  In this duty, we show true humility, patience, and kindness.  In this duty, we value, acknowledge, and respect the one who speaks with us.  In this duty, we return gratitude for grace, repentance for forgiveness, justice and compassion for sinfulness, brokenness, and frailty.  In this duty, we share what we have been given and labor on behalf of others.  The obligation to listen and to be silent comes to us not as a means of justification but as the subsequent process of sanctification.  In this way, we tread the path of life that leads to becoming like Jesus Christ.  This becoming fits that spiritual correspondence of our two words, listen and silent.

GREETINGS FROM THE DIACONATE

In celebration of Pentecost Sunday, June 8, the Deacons provided red carnations for all in attendance.  We thank the Youth for their participation in the service, and CE & Youth for providing the delicious luncheon in Fellowship Hall afterwards.

Deacons hosted a farewell coffee hour for Pranik on Sunday June 22.  We wish to congratulate him on obtaining his degree from Yale and future internship.

Our church youth, many of them off to college themselves, congratulate and wish Pranik a fond farewell and good fortune in his new career.

A subcommittee of the deacons will be reviewing the minister’s job performance for the first six months.

Summer services will continue at 10AM.  The heat and humidity of the particular Sunday will determine whether the services are in Sanctuary or downstairs in Chapel.

The Adult Bible study led by Pastor Kent continues to meet on Thursdays at 11am in the Federal Room.  There is a zoom link for those who wish to participate from home.  Contact Pastor Kent if you would like the link. 

The Care team continues to pray for good health, recovery and comfort to:

       Brian Gaffney (surgery) Collen Stack (broken arm)

       Nancy Uraycee, Joan Halla, and Dan & Linda Hatch.

Is there someone who could use support from the Care team?  Please let Joan Gordon or Susan Trella know.

The next Deacons meeting is Sunday August 3.  Thank you to Deacon Frank Covey for providing communion bread and preparing communion every month.  The July servers will be Mary Zysk and Susan Trella; August servers will be Chris Tabor and Diane Stolting.

Please see a deacon if you have items to discuss.

Peace

Susan Trella

CHRISTAN EDUCATION and CHURCH YOUTH

and SCHOLARSHIP

As noted in the Deacons’ article on the previous page, Pentecost Sunday, June 8th, was celebrated with the Youth playing a major part in the service, and with CE & Youth providing the delicious luncheon in Fellowship Hall afterwards.

Avery Rochette led the congregation in the Call to Worship and the Old Testament and New Testament scriptures were read by Nolan Rochette and Charlie Cusachs respectively.  Aubrey Rochette and Sharon Eaton took the collection that morning.

 At this service the Robert H Wharton Scholarship committee presented awards to five youth members of the congregation:

Charlie Cusachs

Griffin DePalma

Jonathan Halla

Jamie Harnois

Jack DePalma.

We wish them all great success in their academic adventures!

 Following the morning worship service and the scholarship awards, the church Youth and the Christan Education program treated the congregation to a sumptuous luncheon and then candy bar bingo and other games.

MISSIONS

Kerr County, Texas – Flood Victims Relief

In the early morning of Friday, July 4th, devastating flash floods careened through the Guadalupe River valley, sweeping away nearly everything and everyone in its path.  The epicenter of the disaster was the Kerr County and more specifically the town of Kerrville and its surrounding communities.  As Ardene noted during the Prayers for the People in the worship service that Sunday, Kerrville is Ken White’s hometown.  Lorraine confirmed that some of the dead and missing are family members of friends of the White family.

One of the first relief organizations to show up and start providing services was World Central Kitchen, which pulls together local people in the affected disaster zone to effectively provide food and comfort.  At coffee after church, a good feeling was expressed that an effective use of our Missions support to local Kerr County needs.

Learn more about World Central Kitchen at https://wck.org/story

Our congregation’s contributions will be sent in memory of C. Kenneth White, a son of Kerrville.  Please contribute either through the Sunday collection in an envelope that will be in the bulletin and send it to the church office.  Checks should be payable to Center Congregational Church Missions (CCC Missions).

Backpacks for School Children

The Mission Committee this summer again gave money to the Fire Department so that they can purchase back-to-school backpacks for Meriden school children and to fill them with school supplies.    

This year the Missions Committee committed $1,000 to this annual program and so far has collected over half toward this goal; just recently having presenting a check to the Fire Department in advance so that they have the funds to start buying the backpacks and school supplies as soon as possible for the kids. 

 At right Joan is presenting the $1000 check from Center Church to Meriden firefighters at the central station on Pratt Street (photo by Carole Schlauch).  If you have not already contributed, there is still time for you to make your gift. You can use one of the green envelopes either in the pews or in your envelope pack and notice that there is a space you can check to designate money to backpacks. 

Thank You.

PARISH NURSES

Thank you cards received:

From CWS:  

Dear Center Church, CWS Kits continues to bless others because of y our dedicated generosity.  On behalf of our neighbors around the world, thank you for your time and energy to the CWS Kits ministry.  I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with you again this year. 

Thank you!

Denise Estrade, CWS

From Birthright:

Dear Center Church, We at Birthright want to thank all who donated diapers, clothes, shoes and baby food to our organization. Rest assured all items will be put to good use.

We are grateful for your aid in helping us to care for Moms and their babies. 

Sincerely

Kate O’Neill, Birthright Volunteer

MUSIC COMMITTEE NOTES

Pranik Chainani graduated from Yale University in June with his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and has now begun his new career in the financial industry.  We wish him well in his new career.  In addition, he is also staying at Yale where he has been accepted into a Master Degree program in the School of Management.  Between these new developments in his life, Pranik resigned his position as organist here at Center Church, inasmuch as he would no longer have the time (as he did as an undergraduate student) to serve our congregation as he would like to have done.  Life has presented Pranik with a great new adventure and we wholeheartedly wish his great success and good fortune.

During late May and June, while Pranik needed the time to finish his final exams and papers, Cliff Holt made himself available to cover for Pranik as organist and pianist, and we are most appreciative for Cliff’s flexibility.  He has always had our congregation’s needs in his heart and was very glad to be of service.

 In the meantime, the Committee has been interviewing candidates to succeed Prainik in the permanent position.  For the month of July, Richard Silbereis is sharing his talents with us.  The Music Committee will be announcing shortly who will be presenting their musical talents to us for August.  So, stay tuned.