Update: 28 Sep 2020 I have republished and removed protections  on this post today to allow others to read

This was originally published 14 Dec 2010.

Since then a song by Kenny Chesney was release called Noise. The song in many ways addresses my thoughts below very well. The video is the best way to listen to it. As the producer captured the meaning of Noise very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-VAXRC_hxk

We as a society have allowed ourselves to be constantly bombarded with information. It’s all around us: billboards, radios, TVs, computers, Cell phones or as I call them personal pocket computers (PPCs).

We are constantly being told what to think, what to buy, what is hip, what is trash, and what is bad about ourselves! Look around, if people aren’t staring at their phones, they have the TV or computer on, if not those items the radio or stereo is blaring – or they are almost literally sucked into a video game. Even worse – they have multiple things going at once. The phone, a laptop and the TV blaring away at them is a common combination.

We use this “noise” to escape reality. Oh, we tell ourselves we have to be informed, we have to stay up with the latest trends or we fall behind. But  are we really informed – or are we just programmed? Are we really staying up with the trends – or are we just conforming to the world around us?

A few years back I was told that the company I spent 15 years with no longer needed my services. I was told, “Here’s a check to keep you from suing us and there’s the door”. (To paraphrase the exit interview)

So I used that door…and climbed back into my truck an hour after getting there. I started it and after a few seconds, as I sat there processing the fact I was no longer employed – the radio booted up and began to blast an advertisement at me! I would have torn that deck out of the dash and tossed it as far as possible, if I could have; rather, I just reached over and turned it off.

The sound of silence was a blessing straight from God!

Now you must understand that my hearing has been getting progressively worse. So much so, that at that moment, I realized I was turning up the noise just to be able to hear it. When that advertisement blared out of the speakers I felt it in my bones that day. Later, I realized I was turning it up to drown out my thoughts more than anything else. I was using that noise during my commute to escape from the world and myself.

I have since basically turned off the radio, the TV and most print media. Don’t get me wrong I still listen to music in the background when appropriate and I stay up with the news. I do it mostly online with ad blockers installed and I limit my time in all these activities. As a side note, I don’t take in the information at face value. I challenge it and test it. (But that is another discussion.)

So now, most of my time is spent in silence.

It is in silence that we can think…actively think! Not just digest everything we are being told and poop it out on demand.  When we tune out the world around us we can get to know ourselves. We can actually know how we feel about things.

We are challenged to be always in prayer with God. I now understand how, as in the silence, I can talk with God as I go about my day. My brain is actively engaged and somewhat focused now rather than at an idle just taking input. And the blessing I spoke about above: I can now be with myself. I don’t have to seek out the “noise” to drown myself out. I was able to work through the depression that inevitably resulted from the loss of my identity.  Because I was able to learn how to be by myself and know that the job didn’t define who I am.

Since then I’ve observed and talked to others about this need to have noise in their lives, I’ve come to understand that most people today do not like themselves enough to be with themselves. Because of the “noise” they are able to do things to push success in all facets of their lives that given some silence to think about, they just wouldn’t do. So the more they tread on the backs of others the more “noise” is needed in their lives.

Just a thought.

Now I suppose I should define silence. Silence can mean exactly what the dictionary defines it as – to paraphrase – The lack of sound! But if you look closely at the definition it also says: A period of time without speech or noise. In other words we shut-up and we close out others speech etc.

With this in mind I challenge you to find time everyday to be silent! Sit outside without any artificial noise. Just listen to ambient noise. What do you hear? In the city maybe a siren, a dog barking in the distance, ambient traffic noise. Ask yourself what each may mean. For example; Is the siren responding to an accident? Well during rush hour – most likely, so say a small prayer asking God to be with those involved. Do this for week or so and you’ll find you want it in your life. Your brain will naturally go from the questioning to thinking and introflection. You will start communicating with yourself again.

Now all that being said, all sound isn’t necessarily noise. Ambient noise can help our brains to focus and create links between unrelated things, boosting our creativity. So to that end, I like to turn on some ambient background noise that is nonsensical when creating. Science has confirmed this type of noise can stimulate our brains, but we have to be careful to turn it down and not let it drown out our thoughts. a Good example of this is https://coffitivity.com/. A website that pipes in the murmer of a cafe, a coffee shop or other like environments. Youtube has tons of videos that do the same thing with the addition of rivers, rain storms, crackling fires etc.

Good relaxing music can help to boost our energy levels while working. Believe it not I like to turn on good blues music when I need to get a job done. It helps me to focus on what I’m doing. But I’m very careful to ensure whatever media I use advertisement is not allowed through to disrupt the flow!

Humans were not created for the noise levels society has created. We have to get away from the noise and learn to be with ourselves. When we constantly invite the outside world into our lives it interferes with our self communication, our relationships with others and provides a mean by which we can ignore that which we do not want to acknowledge.

I have found that God’s voice is mostly quiet. If we want to hear Him we need to be able to sit with by ourselves in the quiet to hear him.

I often wonder when the Sanhedrin brought the whore before Jesus for judgment if in fact it was done out of fear rather than anger.

I imagine the whore was exclusive to the Sanhedrin council. That she was for their use only. What probably transpired was after services were rendered the dude decided not to pay her so she threatened to reveal the dirty secret. Or more likely she was caught with a man, not of the council; either way, she was now a threat to the council that needed to be dealt with.

In the Sanhedrin’s “self-righteousness” or in other words: their cover-up, was to stone the girl.  Happens all the time in the world so why not even way back then. Wasn’t a good thing to be outted as an adulterer even worse for a man of the council. Heck back then, even the dude could be stoned for such a sin.

So to make things all neat and tidy and to try and kill two birds with one stone they decided to try and get the troublemaker involved, Most likely with a plan to stone him as well.

Jesus being God, saw their sin for what was and basically called them out. “Who among you has no sin?” he says. He probably could have just as well said, “Who here among you hasn’t had sex with this whore?” Now that I think about it maybe that is what he said – the apostle just cleaned it up some when he wrote it down.

Then he sat hunched over not looking at any of them and drew symbols in the sand as the men, one by one, dropped their stone and walked off. What was he drawing? And why is that included in the story, yet not explained further?

See how it changes the story focus from the whore to the Sanhedrin. It no longer is about judging but rather: pride, and selfishness. Remember, Jesus scolded the woman too saying, “Since they wouldn’t judge you neither will I. HOWEVER, GO AND SIN NO MORE!” In other words, clean up your act and quit being a whore. It’s what got you into this mess – learn from it and move on.

 

Longitude needs an accurate clock that can work at sea.

We couldn’t produce chronometers accurate enough till the late 1700s early 1800s.

So then, why do we have accurate world maps that predate that time?

At the age of 12, I first had this idea for a novel that finds it’s basis in that we are the offspring of a previous human civilization. A civilization that was destroyed in some sort of global cataclysm.  I’ve worked with this idea since then but have never sat down to actually write the book.

We are now finding evidence of a huge comet striking the North American Ice shelf 13000 years ago.  Causing the floods of myth and biblical record.  Wow, how interesting is this find?  I’d always had in my mind it was some sort of nuclear weapons exchange…

With the destruction of the technological means of civilization of today who would survive the following pandemonium?   Would the so called civilized survive or those that live without the tech to assist them?

It dawned on me today that the people who use Macs to write their blogs feel the need to state that fact. They state it at least once but more likely three, four, five times throughout their message. It’s ridiculous!

I wonder what drives them to do this.  Does the Mac make for a better blog intrinsically because it was a Mac used to that create it?  Or is it, that the person has a deep-seated need to be validated in their eliteness because they use a Mac to write? For some reason the use of an Apple product makes one a superior being. Or…!

I know! On a Mac the writing is magical and more creative than anything that could be created on say a Linux computer (which is my main computer. Just to add to the ridiculousness)…or maybe they are just trying to validate the stupidity of spending all that money to buy their sleek looking little Mac when they could have essentially done the same work on a machine that cost 1/3 of what they spent….

So look for it, Mac users tell you at some point in their post that they are Mac users…shall we make a game of it?