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| SOMETIMES SILENCE IS LOUD |
Date Posted:
4/7/2005
Author:
Louie Giglio
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Sometimes silence is louder than words, more powerful than any sound. That was certainly the case as over 11,000 college-aged young people converged on the corner of Fifth and Broadway in downtown Nashville on a January night in early 2005. Having exited fourteen smaller Community Group settings across the city, they walked in quiet contemplation as they returned to enter a candlelit late night worship gathering in the arena at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. I had encouraged them earlier in the night to return to the Gaylord without a sound, something that seemed problematic and unrealistic to some, but a challenge and unique opportunity the students eagerly embraced.
Considering the staggering grace and power of the cross of Christ, a hushed throng began to appear from every direction, filling the streets with an eerie sense of anticipation and reverence. Within minutes a crowd had gathered outside the main entrance to the arena, filling the wide esplanade and spilling over into the streets for blocks.
Officers on horseback looked on with stunned expressions. Bands in many of Nashville's famed Broadway Street country bars ceased playing as partygoers curiously emptied into the streets to witness the rare and peculiar sight. Restaurant patrons did the same, leaving their meals to walk out among the quiet masses and investigate the silence.
Some students kneeled as they waited for the Arena doors to open. Others stood without uttering a sound, hands lifted in adoration and prayer. A sense of the presence and otherness of God hung thick in the air. And for a moment the heart of the city stood still.
I still heard onlookers and facility staffers talking about it days later. "We've seen twenty year olds party hard and crank up the volume," one hotel employee commented, "but we've never seen kids this age that quiet before. It was incredibly cool and a little unnerving all at the same time."
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