Gone Quiet

Gone quiet.

A term used for when a submarine suddenly cannot be contacted and is not heard from. They say it's "gone quiet."

But as I drove to Mom and Dad's house for the Christmas festivities, I heard that phrase echo in my mind as I passed the malls.

Gone quiet.

This day, this one day, Christmas Day, is the one day in the year when everything pretty much stops. The majority of people have a day to spend with family. The commercial machine that sometimes seems like it IS our life, our country, comes to a nearly complete halt, and for one day it isn't about making money.

Oh, sure, I found an open Dunkin' Donuts at which to get my iced coffee. But they were running a short day. I was very grateful they were there, though I could have lived without it.

Oh wait, and there is LL Bean, open 24/7/365. And the Richdale downtown.

But mostly, we've gone quiet.

In the quiet, I hope we hear the voice of peace.