I can't remember where I read it, but I did read recently that humans are meant to exist in quietude, or even silence, for far longer periods in a day than we modern folk are currently doing. There are scientific studies and much written about the topic, though our present modern maladies- anxiety, for one- are enough for me to believe it. I know the Holy Scriptures teach that God is found in stillness, and in secret, in silence.
I am so relieved right now to be in a quiet place. I am alone at home, and all I hear are birds singing, the whoosh of cars on the road nearby, and the hum of my furnace. It's not silence, but it's peaceful.
I know that Christians are called to cultivate an inner stillness by the grace of the Holy Spirit, but I am convinced that we also have the choice and responsibility to avoid noise pollution in our daily lives, to the extent that we have control. It's healing for our spiritual selves but also to our whole human system, especially the nerves. It's a serious issue with me; I've suffered from anxiety from the beginning. My mother tells me I was a fitful, tearful baby. My poor sister concurs, her early adolescence shot through with my shrieking and fussing, night and day. I contributed to noise pollution before I knew what it was!
Noise is not necessarily sound- it can be our own frantic thoughts, or it can be a lack of mindful quiet. It's the static of constant yet erratic motion, constant busyness, constant restlessness (here St. Augustine helps us with his famous line: "Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in you."). Noise can also be idle talk, idle occupation, a steady stream of useless information cluttering up the space of our minds and hearts.
I am convinced that modern popular culture is the breeding ground for little ungodly noise-lets, seemingly harmless (as we've become accustomed to them as the background of our contemporary Western existence), to multiply and eat up our peace, our mental health, our spirituality. It's the devil's playground for certain. I don't care how that makes me sound. It's not a healthy place to be, but most of us are submerged in it. I speak of "modern popular culture" as an entity- MPC- partially because I'm too tired to explicate and categorize, but also because it really is all one big sham.
The whole shebang- TV, mass media, the big internet corporations, the big chain retailers, the mainstream entertainers, all of it is connected and it is collectively rotting our minds and robbing our souls of the quiet which we need to hear the voice of God and discover who we are in Him.
Some people in difficult circumstances, through no fault of their own, can hardly find a moment's peace away from noise. But most of us have some control over it. I believe that it's not a cultural priority to break away from the noise-web. More likely, it's quite the opposite. I've had it with MPC, frankly. I want no part of it. I don't even feel like logging in to Facebook. I only check it periodically to see if our daughter's parents have updated her page with photos or a video. Other than her family-only page, Facebook is a headache waiting to happen. I grit my teeth whenever my husband turns on the television. Our agreement is that it is for soccer games and the occasional movie on Netflix. Thankfully, he doesn't do it often.
I love to hear the radio- I enjoy certain public radio shows, the jazz and classical stations, and Immaculate Heart Radio. But it's not something I like to have on just for background noise. Believe me, the less you tune in, the better you'll feel- I have less anxiety, more time to process my thoughts, and I am definitely more sensitive to disturbances which means I have more discipline in this regard. I have an easier time simply saying "No" to things that aren't needful, edifying, or appropriate for whatever reason. The clarity of mind that comes with increased periods of silence is like a calm, still pond in which all the pebbles, sand and weeds have settled to the bottom, there in plain sight for all to discern through the clear water.
Increasing my time in silence has also increased my inclinations toward gentleness. I seek gentleness in the people around me, in the sounds around me, and I too desire to be gentle to match that sweetness found in God's presence, in the stillness. I don't mean to say I'm floating around like an angel on a cloud, but the edginess in my behavior and my demeanor has softened. I am far from perfect but I ardently desire the life of God which cannot be attained by participating in the clatter and clamor of MPC or any other common distraction.
In seeking God's life, I often catch myself thinking of the early Christians and of our mother Mary. Whenever I try to discern the value of any given modern thing or behavior, I imagine for a moment our Blessed Mother and the apostles taking part in it. If I absolutely can't envision that, forget it. It has no place in my life. It's a good thing to always say, "What Would Jesus Do?" but also helpful to compare ourselves to His earliest followers who were just like us, created by God. They were the first examples of Christianity to those who would believe without having seen. They are good models for us. I think it's a pretty helpful test, anyway.
Read books. Read the Bible. Listen to wholesome and interesting radio. Take a walk, ride a bike. Look people in the eye. Be aware of your surroundings. Pray through all of it. Sure, you'll still see me on a train with my earbuds in, but I can almost guarantee it would be to listen to Catholic radio or classical music. Even that is something I'm still not convinced I should do and I try to lessen the times I do it. It's disheartening when I take my eyes off the little screen to find every other passenger staring into their own. Makes me glad I put the little bugger away for a minute. I digress.
Look for opportunities to cultivate silence and cut out the noise. You will be happier, and you will be open to God's little gems of grace.
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