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Has it ever occurred to you just how noisy the modern world is? In every shop you go into, from the supermarket to clothes shops, in restaurants and bars, even in lifts, doctors' waiting rooms and the unemployment office, piped music is everywhere. The latest pop songs, bad jazz and muzak are always there. Where once a pub was a haven of quiet, where sometimes (but only sometimes) a live band would play, now music is piped constantly.
I have nothing against music, but I find constant, neverending music distracting. As I have found at certain hard times in my life, the best way to block out thought is to play music, listen to the TV, spend time walking in crowds of people. Your mind becomes so distracted by what it hears and sees that it no longer thinks. I live in a city, and the streets are so busy with people and their chatter that individual thought seems impossible.
The problem with this is, of course, that our awareness of God is greatly reduced. I find that I become so distracted that I cannot "pray constantly" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) save in arrow-prayers, and I certainly cannot meditate on God and His will. It becomes harder to weigh decisions, and the instant-gratification ethic of the modern world goes against that anyway. It is hard enough to school the natural mind to think of God and not of the self without adding to it with noise and bustle. Sometimes, I long for the peace of a hermitage!
The hustle and bustle of the world is not a new phenomenon - piped music may be, but people have always crowded in such a way that thoughts of God are blotted out. There is a biblical solution. Many times Jesus went to be alone, to think, meditate and pray. Sometimes, He took some of His disciples, sometimes He did not.
"And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone." (Matthew 14:23 RSV)
We may do the same. In solitude, I snatch a few hours of the day to think and pray - at night, before I go to sleep, and I take a walk every evening in the quiet. You may find it helpful to do so in the morning, or during the day depending on how your life is structured.
In terms of meeting with other believers, I think we can learn from the Society of Friends (Quakers). In their worship, they have no hymns, ministers or readings, but sit in silence until someone is moved to speak. I think we could incorporate silent communal worship and thought into our churches with great help. Catholic mystics have also effectively used this. We can listen to God, think on God - and not be distracted by music, chatter, or the endless repetition of a liturgy.
These things have their place, but so does silent contemplation, prayer, and thought. We may do much to save others from being distracted, to lessen the cacophony of noise that overwhelms us, by being "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19 RSV).
When we are in silence, we can seek God, and listen to Him, gaining deeper understanding, and greater love.
© Dubhóc MacEògainn, 2005.