I’m watching the Royals and the Orioles play game one of the American League Championship Series, and I just reached for the remote. The chants of the crowd that are an invigorating sound to most fans is just nauseating noise to me.

As a result of a head injury in 1972, I have trouble tolerating noise that is prolonged and loud. Whether it is eating in a restaurant or listening to music, what is relaxing to many of you is painful to me. This is why research that focuses on “silencing sound” is interesting to me.

Researchers have discovered that noise cancellation can be achieved by a principle called “subtraction by addition.” Unpleasant acoustic waves are neutralized when an opposing wave is produced to counter the original sound wave. This “subtraction by addition” equals digital silence.

We live in a hyper-active world that is filled with noise pollution and a mindset of louder is better. Like Elijah, we think we have to have an earth-shattering grandstand event to meet our needs and to keep us going. Elijah thought God would appear to him in an amazing manner like a powerful wind, an earthquake, or a blazing fire, but God came to him in a still small voice (I Kings 19).

When Elijah subtracted his preconceived notions about God, he began to discover what he had been missing—the presence of God. To know the presence of God, practice the principle of Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Turn down the volume, turn off the technology, mute the phone, and focus on God. You may discover that silence is really is golden.

I almost forgot, a little over four hours after I started writing this, the Royals defeated the Orioles in the 10th inning. Hmmm…a Kansas City versus St. Louis would make for a great World Series.