The next time a sitcom is playing in your house try this. Walk into another room far enough away to be able to hear the sound but too far away to be able to make out the words. Then listen to the pattern one line spoken by a character another line in response another line spoken by the first character laugh track brief laughter by those in the room watching. And again one line second line response laugh track brief laughter by the viewers sometimes followed by a four or five note musical interlude to move the action to another scene. When I listen in on this cycle I cant help but think of it as a sort of conditioning that induces a semi-conscious state of non-thought. Thats not to say that the producers of these shows are intentionally engaged in dumbing our population down for some nefarious purpose. Nor is it to say that there are no truly engaging and useful shows among our seemingly limitless choices of entertainment. But littered among all those choices are the mindless ones the ones we gravitate to so that we can give our minds a rest. Add to this the bite-sized videos and memes that bombard our smart phones and the sensory overload of commercials talking heads and advertisements that are increasingly impossible to escape and the result is a world full of noise.
I am certainly not the first person to decry the insipid nature of the average TV show (the term idiot box" has been around as long as I can remember). Nor am I adding much to the conventional wisdom about the social implications of virtual interaction taking the place of actual interaction. But the effects of noise on our spiritual existence doesnt seem to get the attention that it deserves. Maybe thats because the idea of spirituality is diluted by the noise itself.
In any event it occurs to me that the omnipresence of vapid entertainment is not the result of plotting by evil overlords so much as it is an unwitting stumble into a trap that is inherent in nature or to be more precise in super-nature.
We all instinctively grasp the fact that God is found in stillness. We tend to forget however the corollary fact that evil thrives in distractions the evil not necessarily being the distracted act itself but the deprivation of stillness.
Along these same lines Gods way is one of constant effort and discipline. Just ask anyone who is taking seriously the mandate to love their enemies anything less than full concentration of effort will never do. Evil however is found along the path of least resistance -- a simple well-placed distraction is all it takes to derail the best of our intentions. Our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak indeed.
In C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters the demon says We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end." Why would the demon want to fill every void with noise and drown out silence? To keep us from finding the divine in the ordinary. To keep us from discerning Nature and recognizing the face of God within it. Its right there in front of us but the demon doesnt want us to see.
The noise that surrounds us then is the current manifestation of the super-reality that the devils distractions have always existed to lead us off of the Path. Is the current manifestation more powerful and engrossing than it has ever been? As tempting as it is to answer yes it seems impossible to say with any certainty. What we can say however is that vigilance is in order.
If you step away from the sit-com and stand in the stillness of a sunset the answer will present itself to you.
The next time a sitcom is playing in your house try this. Walk into another room far enough away to be able to hear the sound but too far away to be able to make out the words. Then listen to the pattern one line spoken by a character another line in response another line spoken by the first character laugh track brief laughter by those in the room watching. And again one line second line response laugh track brief laughter by the viewers sometimes followed by a four or five note musical interlude to move the action to another scene. When I listen in on this cycle I cant help but think of it as a sort of conditioning that induces a semi-conscious state of non-thought. Thats not to say that the producers of these shows are intentionally engaged in dumbing our population down for some nefarious purpose. Nor is it to say that there are no truly engaging and useful shows among our seemingly limitless choices of entertainment. But littered among all those choices are the mindless ones the ones we gravitate to so that we can give our minds a rest. Add to this the bite-sized videos and memes that bombard our smart phones and the sensory overload of commercials talking heads and advertisements that are increasingly impossible to escape and the result is a world full of noise.
I am certainly not the first person to decry the insipid nature of the average TV show (the term idiot box" has been around as long as I can remember). Nor am I adding much to the conventional wisdom about the social implications of virtual interaction taking the place of actual interaction. But the effects of noise on our spiritual existence doesnt seem to get the attention that it deserves. Maybe thats because the idea of spirituality is diluted by the noise itself.
In any event it occurs to me that the omnipresence of vapid entertainment is not the result of plotting by evil overlords so much as it is an unwitting stumble into a trap that is inherent in nature or to be more precise in super-nature.
We all instinctively grasp the fact that God is found in stillness. We tend to forget however the corollary fact that evil thrives in distractions the evil not necessarily being the distracted act itself but the deprivation of stillness.
Along these same lines Gods way is one of constant effort and discipline. Just ask anyone who is taking seriously the mandate to love their enemies anything less than full concentration of effort will never do. Evil however is found along the path of least resistance -- a simple well-placed distraction is all it takes to derail the best of our intentions. Our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak indeed.
In C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters the demon says We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end." Why would the demon want to fill every void with noise and drown out silence? To keep us from finding the divine in the ordinary. To keep us from discerning Nature and recognizing the face of God within it. Its right there in front of us but the demon doesnt want us to see.
The noise that surrounds us then is the current manifestation of the super-reality that the devils distractions have always existed to lead us off of the Path. Is the current manifestation more powerful and engrossing than it has ever been? As tempting as it is to answer yes it seems impossible to say with any certainty. What we can say however is that vigilance is in order.
If you step away from the sit-com and stand in the stillness of a sunset the answer will present itself to you.