Article June 20, 2005 Issue

THE NOISE DIDN'T BOTHER ME ANYMORE

Eleanor Wood

RECENTLY I became aware of a constant thumping sound in my home, causing me great stress. I discovered the noise to be coming from a nearby construction site, but knowing the source didn't help much. The thump, thump, thump continued to disturb my sleep and the calm atmosphere of my home. I tried playing music, but was constantly aware of the thumping.

However, I felt that God would give me an answer to this dilemma. So I turned to prayer and found ideas in the Bible and Science and Health that helped me redirect my thinking. In the glossary of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy wrote that one of the definitions of evening is "peace and rest" (p. 586). I realized that the only "noise" I needed to listen to were the peaceful and restful thoughts that God was giving me, and I didn't need to pay attention to any other sound. It was my thinking that made me feel bothered about this noise. I looked up what it says about ears in the glossary, and found that ears are described as representing "not organs of the so–called corporeal senses, but spiritual understanding" (p. 585). As I was listening more with my spiritual understanding to what God was telling me, I found the noise was bothering me less.

After praying with these thoughts for a while, the idea came to call the city to see if they might help me. A nice young man in charge of the job called me and listened to my description of the problem. He then contacted the engineers and arranged with them to place muffling material around the large pump that was causing the noise. He called me back to tell me this would be done immediately and to assure me the total job was near completion. I was so grateful for his kindness. But interestingly, by the time he called the second time, the thumping had actually ceased to bother me.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
'HERE AM I, LORD'
June 20, 2005
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit