Noise.
“I can’t talk now, I’m on the phone!” was a line from “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” - Louise Lasser’s character was explaining to the party she was speaking to on the phone, why she couldn’t talk at the moment. I know! Although it kind of makes sense in todays culture, when everyone seems to be always on the phone, or texting, or plugged into their ipod, or just online. Interconnected… and yet still so superficial.
The sounds of silence…
Is now listening to other people’s phone conversations on the street corner or in the grocery store. These days I’m cat-sitting and taking care of a friend’s house while he is home in Washington, D.C. taking care of his mother who is ill. He lives in a very fashionable area of Minneapolis called Kenwood, and in order to get there I drive through the Lake neighborhoods and pass through a trendy area of town, known as Uptown. The area has long been the cool area of town, it was the same when I hung out there, and it was the same for the generation before me - which makes me laugh because we all grew up, got old, are on our way to the grave, and that coolness, along with its youthful beauty and freaky clothes is long gone - just as it will be for the new cool people in a few years. Although they are all VIP now. But I digress.
I can’t talk now, I’m online.
Anyway, what I have noticed going back and forth is how it seems everyone is plugged into something. Drivers seem to always be on the phone, as do walkers. I noticed several people carrying grocery bags as they walked with ipods plugged into their ears, although some were using hands-free phones - you know, the ones with the ear piece that looks like a hearing aid. No one is quiet any longer, silence seems to be a lost art. Reflection is only something one experiences in a mirror or store window.
“Shut-up!”
It occurred to me that not only is the new attention-craving generation more coddled than any before - even in employment their need for affirmation and approval cannot tolerate the least bit of indifference - but they have been raised with unending noise and entertainment which accustomed them to require a steady flow of music, conversation, and distraction. Think about it - most of them were raised with toys that were interactive - they spoke, they sang, they had bells and whistles - and these were the inanimate objects. Then of course they got their computers and computer games, and spent a great deal of time in front of the television - and music was everywhere. It’s amazing isn’t it? Noise baby-sat the kids. No wonder text messaging can be in code or reduced to a couple of words - that is how many speak: ”Dude!” “Whatever!” “Shut-up!” Inarticulate, one or two word sentences.
Got religion?
A week ago the world watched several thousand youth at World Youth Day, where once again noise seemed to be an essential ingredient. Not a few people thus conclude all the youth of the world are becoming religious. It is true, WYD is a very encouraging sign of young people’s openness to religion, but the fact is many others have no interest in it at all, and if they do, it is often occult based (Harry Potter generation), or else they are just media junkies.
Silence and solitude would kill them.
It seems to me everything in contemporary culture militates against all that is authentically spiritual, due in part to the noise factor. I wonder if people are really afraid of silence and just being? Even New Age spirituality, though emphasizing a certain type of silence, frequently calls for one to voice affirming mantras while the practitioner works to empty his consciousness - therefore avoiding anything associated with authentic self-knowledge. Thus - even if the Holy Spirit was trying to get in, he might be rejected as a distracting thought.
Mary Hartman really meant to say - “I can’t think now…”
Something is off here. I wonder if there isn’t an inability to think and meditate, to actually reflect on all of the information that bombards us today. Critical thinking is often mistaken for dissent and criticism of what someone either doesn’t understand or of what contradicts an individuals preferences. We seem to be becoming a society totally other-directed by media and technology, while any introspection is drowned out by the noise of popular cultures communication toys.
No wonder there is so little faith on earth. When the Son of God returns, will there be any left at all? The readings from todays Mass may speak to this as well:
“Two evils have my people done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters; They have dug for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.” - Jeremiah 2: 12-13
And:
“They look but do not see, and hear but do not listen or understand…” - Matthew 13: 10-17
