The addiction of noise

Almost two years ago, I posted a blog entitled "Texting as the new Addiction."

I was wrong. Texting is not an addiction.

Texting is just a symptom of a deeper addiction—the addiction to noise.

(Before I move on, I must make this disclaimer in full disclosure: I own both and iPad and an iPhone. So I write this blog not only from personal observation but also personal experience. I write this blog not as an indictment against others, but to raise awareness for all of us.)

Texting is one noise among many that we've become addicted to, primarily through the power of technology. The need to know, to be connected, to be informed and to be entertained has become the norm for our culture, leaving no margin in our lives for anything of deep significance. We have little patience for waiting, being still, and being silent; and as a result, our lives have become more shallow. Think I'm off-base? Ask yourself these questions:

• How do you feel when you don't have your cell phone or other technology with you?
• Have you ever left the house without ANY technology?
• Do you take your cell phone, computer, or tablet to every meeting, even when you're likely not to need any of them?
• How frequently do you check your email, texts, or social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Ning, etc.) in a typical day?
• How frequently do you watch TV, listen to music, listen to talk radio or other news sources?
• What do you do when you have a break in a meeting, when you have to wait at a light, when you are watching your child's practice?
• In a typical day, how many different sources of information, communication, or recreation do you encounter? (TV, music, phone, computer, people, etc.) How much time is spent interacting with those sources?
• How much of your day contains any amount of silence?

Scripture commands us to "be still and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10). Another translation reads, "Be silent." We will never be able to know that He is God if we leave no space in our lives to be silent. He cannot "restore my soul" (Ps. 23) if there is no time and no space for Him to do so. There is an inverse relationship between the amount of technology and information and stimuli that I choose to engage in and the settled-ness of my soul.

Who are the people you know who possess a depth of spirituality that you crave? Who are the most rich in spirit and wisdom? Who seems to exude irrepressible peace and calm that you are instantly drawn to the minute you enter their presence? Now ask yourself: How much of their lives is taken up with the noise around them?

So how do we tame this beast? Try the following—I dare you:

• Don't take your cell phone with you to a meeting
• Turn off the radio when you're in the car (and watch how quickly you are tempted to turn it on!)
• Keep the TV off in the morning. If you must check the traffic report, do so just before you leave.
• Spend an entire day without the use of any technology—no computer, no cell phone, no GPS, no TV, radio, or DVR.

God is not happy being one of a thousand things that occupies our mind in given day. He wants to be the ONLY thing that occupies our mind.

"Love the Lord your God with ALL your...mind" (Mark 12:30, emphasis added)