Our reality is choked out by thoughts, static, noise, and by the "cares of this life". (not to mention the electronic noise of being "always on", "always connected".
The other night I went to Vespers service at church. Vespers is my favorite service. The candles, the dim lights, the hymns, the "Now that we have come to the setting of the sun." It recognizes a cycle in the day and in life. It is much needed.
Afterward, I told my priest, Father Nikolai, that it took 45 minutes for the noise of the day to fade away and for me to be immersed in the service - the candles, the hymns.
He replied, with a smile, "That is why our services are so long."
There has been a lot of talk lately in my circles of influence about Signal vs. Noise. How we are bombarded with "noise" to the point where we don't even hear the signal anymore.
I give an update on Perpend. He has been on a quest to become an Orthodox monk. He was "clothed as a novice" monk in May at the Monastery of St. John in Manton, CA.
I share thoughts from one of his letters about this "noise":
We think of static as the white noise and pops between radio stations. If I say "noise", people respond with "sound" and "volume" as their points of reference. Yes, a neighbor's loud music is a potential problem, but I mean more than that. The term "inputs" also doesn't quite fit; it doesn't connect. Maybe "Static" is better.
"Static" is interference in your attempt to bring in the radio signal. In my case, the signal I want is God, Grace, the life of the Church, silence, prayer - a real life. These are the things that actually matter. Static is anything that hinders that.
My thoughts, emotions, perceptions, desires are a static producing mechanism. The added static from those mechanisms is other people entering my life is a lot also. How I choose to react and think about them changes my perceptions of them and those interactions. That is what thoughts determine, what life is about.
Episode website:
Ep. 150 - Decrease the "Noise" in Your Life
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