What Happened to the Pause?

Paul Harvey was one of the most effective radio personalities of his time. Just pull up his classic “If I Were the Devil” and you’ll see why. He had a distinctive voice. He used simple words everyone could understand. And he was famous for something else that has become a lost art—pausing after he made a major point. The pause always got your attention.

During a lesson or sermon, the mind needs time to let the information soak in, even if it is only a second or two. It needs an occasional short break. Trying to absorb too much information too quickly is like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant.

Our culture frowns on the use of a pause. Commercials are so compressed you can’t understand much less remember what they say. Advertisers think they can get more out of their money if they speed up the communication process. But the old saying “Easy come, easy go” still applies. More is not always better.

Any experienced preacher will tell you that if you want to get an audience’s attention, just stop preaching for a few seconds. Things get quiet in a hurry. Of course this can be overdone, but a well-timed pause can emphasize a point more than a great sound system.

When the Jews brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus, He was teaching in the temple. But He didn’t answer them right away. He paused. “But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear” (John 8:6). How different that is from YouTube videos of religious debates where the disputants never stop to catch their breath.

God talked to men directly in the days of Job. But for a time (much longer than a few seconds) He hit the pause button. Job begged and pleaded with God to answer him, but God was quiet. The silence was truly deafening. God let Job and his friends argue until they finished, and when He did speak, they were ready to listen.

There is a personal and practical lesson in this. Today families have to fight for quiet time. Screens keep the minds of both parents and children so distracted they have lost any appreciation for silence. In fact, it makes them nervous. And, husbands and wives spend more time on social media than they spend talking intimately with each other with no competition or interruptions. And, individually, Bible study and prayer have suffered. It’s time to take control of your life and “meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

Kerry

West End church of Christ • January 25 2026