Noise. Most of us live with a fairly constant sense of noise in our life, whether it is the physical noisiness of our everyday life, or the noisiness of thoughts that are on our mind, whether it is things that happened in the past, or things that are ongoing, or things that we are worried about in the future.
Noise can be both good and bad. Many times, an overabundance of noisiness crowds out our ability to think clearly, and perhaps even to hear the voice of God or the leadership of the Spirit. And in those moments perhaps the best thing we can do is discipline ourselves to find silence in our lives, to experience the still, small voice of God that leads us and directs us better than any of the noise in our lives.
But there are times when noise is good. When we have drowned out the suffering of others by building walls in our lives and how we live them, then the noisiness of suffering can call us to compassionate acts of mercy. When we have either isolated ourselves or been isolated by others, the noisiness of community can be an invitation to re-engage and begin building relationships again.
So all of this is to say that we need to balance the noise in our life, to make sure that there are moments of silence where we can listen for God’s presence and leadership, and to make sure that we allow enough noise into our lives that we are not separated from the world and its suffering and opportunities for relationship.
Worship is that way, too. Too much silence, and we can fail to remember that worship is a communal, relational event in our lives. Too much noise, and we can forget that worship is intended to draw us into God’s presence. So let worship be meaningful for you today. Take advantage of moments of silence, and revel in the noisiness of it all as well.
Blessings, Sonny