I started out by stating that God can and does speak to us. I know that this raises all sorts of problems, perhaps the most common of which is the criticism that many people who, by all measures, do not at all appear “godly” … think of some of those famous televangelists who led deeply corrupted lives, firmly state that they have heard from God. But, I’m not going to go there now. Maybe another time.

My premise, of course, is that there is a God who knows us and loves us, without condition. That this God wants to be in an intimate relationship with us. That this God knows every thought we’ve ever had and is aware of everything we’ve ever done. That this God understands that in order for us to have an intimate relationship, we must communicate. Back and forth. It’s a two-way street.

Furthermore, there are all sorts of clues as to what we can do to help foster this communication. I’ve already mentioned some.

But, for now, let’s turn our attention to a major obstacle to cultivating that relationship.

I’m talking here about noise.

All of us know of many, many pleasant sounds. Beautiful sounds. Sounds that can strike us deeply. Perhaps they’re from nature or from certain musical instruments and remarkable voices. I, for one, can be completely captivated by some of these things.

But, honestly, I don’t respond in the same way when I hear the word, “noise.”

To me, noise is not a desirable thing. Yes, it’s sound but it’s sound that we don’t receive as pleasant. To me, it can act to obscure other things that really appeal to us. (Ok, I’ll make an exception for “white noise” which is really just constant sound that is designed to mask other sounds that disrupt us.) Of course, one person’s idea of good sound can be another person’s idea of noise. Sound and noise are really just the same thing when it comes to physics, chemistry and biology but they’re not received the same way based upon our motivations.

For our purposes here, in order for us to increase our opportunities to hear God, we need to deal with the noise problem.

But, before diving in, perhaps we should expand our concept of noise beyond the scope of simple sound. For our purposes, let’s consider it as a form of distraction that invades our consciousness and diverts us from a thing of intention. For instance, the incessant loud arguing next door can certainly interfere with our appreciation of a Chopin Nocturne. The gas-operated leaf-blower at 7am can interfere with our desire to sleep in a bit longer on a Saturday morning.

I remember, as an undergraduate, learning the rather simple lesson that if I really wanted to actually “study” something (as opposed to sort of using half of my brain to skim through, highlighting stuff that I thought looked important), I needed to leave the busy and loud dorm and head to the quietest part of the campus library, which was probably in some obscure location in the basement. On a Saturday morning. 🙂

Much later, I taught a program to undergraduates at a local university and emphasized that the mind can only process one thing at a time, like a light switch flipping furiously back and forth. In other words, concentration is a pretty good skill to learn and noise is its enemy.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that, in this age of hyper information coming in from all directions, that our attention spans are fraying away. Sound bits, tweets, non-stop video and audio and so forth just add to the cacophony that also includes all of the other demands placed upon our attention. Jobs, families, political inclinations. The list can be nearly endless.

And, we only have so much bandwidth to deal with this.

It’s a wonder that even for faithful Christians that there is space to send the prayer requests I mentioned in my last post. (We usually remember God when things don’t go as we’d like and we want his help.)

So (and this is a simple question), how can we hear God amidst all of this? How can we even expect to hear him? No wonder people want the electronic billboard to light up with the answer. Now, that’s something we could identify with!

It’s not only a simple question, the answer is equally simple. We have to learn to listen. And, the only way we can listen (especially to an invisible God), is to get away from the noise.

There should be a 12 Step Program for all of us (I include myself) who struggle with the dominance of noise.

Here’s a place where those raised in more Eastern cultures (Asia for instance) have had more cultural practices that seek to quiet the mind. I suspect Brother Lawrence practiced silence for most or all of his day.

Now, this is not to say that we need to leave all of our westernized habits and interests behind. I firmly believe that’s not necessary. However, we do need to take an honest look into how much we’d like to hear God and how we can best go about it.

My experience with this is not something I’m particularly proud of. But, and this is a big “but,” I know that I’ve grown in my capacity to listen for and to God as the years are going by. Some might say, “Goodness, Brad, you’re retired! You’re no longer working those crazy hours and under all of that stress. You’re just not facing what you’d call a huge amount of “noise,” that surrounded your life before retirement!”

And, they’d be right. Up to a point.

In fact, however, I began training in shutting out the noise and opening up my ears (so to speak) long before I retired. And, in many ways, I have just as much opportunity to live with noise now as I had before.

So, how do we reduce the noise in our lives while simultaneously opening up to God’s voice, in its various manifestations? And what, exactly, are those manifestations?

To be continued.