Static

[archive: confessions of an ex-smoker May 19, 2005]

“a few things in the way, keeping you from me and me from you.” –Matthew Donovan

Lately, I can’t get the word ‘static’ out of my head. It’s as though, if I don’t write down some thoughts, I will continue to think about the word “static”.

Coincidentally (yeah right), I saw a preview trailer for the movie “White Noise” and it got my mind racing. Not about seeing or talking to dead people through the television, but a curiosity about the definition of the word and how it plays out in the life of someone who is a follower of Jesus.

The next day (still having ‘static’ on the brain) I was driving down the interstate and I was listening to a CD entitled “Orbit” by an artist friend of mine, Matthew Donovan. While listening (and driving) I heard him sing the lyric “a few things in the way, keeping you from me and me from you”. In an effort to try and rewind the CD and hear the lyric again, I accidentally hit the FM button on my stereo. I didn’t have any radio station tuned in, so, you guessed…all I heard was REALLY LOUD radio static. I quickly adjusted, pushed the CD button on my stereo and found the part in the song where Matthew sings the lyric that caught my interest. Between the song lyric, the radio static and the entire one minute of bad car stereo operation was the beginning of this musing of thoughts.

God is the soundtrack of our life. He is the song for every circumstance; He is the rhythm for every moment; He is the music of all our lives. Are we listening? Are we tuning into THE music…His music? Are we just listening to static? Are there a few things in the way?

Take a minute and do some personal inventory. Catalog your typical day and determine where God fits into your mix.

Maybe you’re like a friend of mine who during the week listened to any and every kind of music you can think of – and I’m like that – however, on Sunday morning, he would listen to urban gospel music (I’m not like that).

Why did he do that on Sunday? Why not any other time during the week?

Please don’t miss the point with this example: this is NOT about listening to music that is Christian or non-Christian. It’s my way of asking the question: are you only tuning in God on Sunday? Is that “His day”? Is it your way of keeping the Sabbath for the “big man upstairs” (that phrase always cracks me up – I guess you could say it’s my personal hang up with omnipresence).

Before I write anymore, I want to set the record straight…this is NOT an article about scheduling a “quiet time” in your life. My generation doesn’t understand quiet. My generation doesn’t understand silence. People have bigger sound systems in their cars than the average garage band…including a sub woofer. Yeah, it’s safe to say that we either don’t understand silence, or simply don’t want silence in our lives.

Why is that?

Why do people fall a sleep to the television? I remember my Dad preparing to conduct his collegiate symphonic band; it was a total trip to watch. The television was on (usually a baseball game), he was sitting on the couch with musical scores strewn everywhere and if that weren’t enough, he had headphones on listening to the music WHILE he conducted the ‘air’ symphony in front of him. Did I mention the T.V. was on? ☺

Maybe the uprising of A.D.D. is not generational; maybe it’s just plain human. Is that why Adam chose to eat the forbidden fruit? He was bored. Think about it. He didn’t have Y-Fi, he didn’t have an iPod – what the heck do you do in paradise without a Mac? I’d be clueless…

Human nature at its very core is about personal consumption or better said “what’s in it for me". Does the white noise in our lives actually feed our underlying motive…selfishness?

Have we conditioned ourselves to have to HAVE static or white noise? Is it possible that all our efforts to make life more fun and convenient have simultaneously made God obsolete?

One of the definitions for the word static is ‘showing little change’. Regardless of technology, work and the busyness of our lives, we have shown little change. More often than not, I am astounded at how the cultures before us have struggled with the same things we still struggle with today. Hearing God and allowing time for Him to speak into our lives has always been mysterious and challenging.

Again, why is that?

What static is in your life? What music are you tuning in? In other words, where are you spending your time and your personal energy? Take some time to figure it out. THEN, it’s time to be creative.

When have you felt that you are clearly tuning into God? Again, take some time to answer this question.

For me, it’s reading. And the majority of the time, it’s NOT the Bible. Initially, that sounds horrible, so PLEASE forgive me and keep reading this article. My favorite books are books that point to and refer to the Bible. In all honesty, the times when I am reading consistently are when I am the healthiest in my following of Christ. My experience has been that when I’m not reading (or learning), I’m not tuning into God at all.

Maybe conversation is how you tune into God? Find some folks to hang out with and talk about life with. Maybe music is your thing? Just like you have a favorite radio station or a favorite CD – you need to find your niche for tuning in to God. It’s not enough to make the excuse that ‘life is too busy’. Trust me, that won’t change. The older you get, the more complicated and busy your life will become…the more things that will be in the way.

You must be creative and intentional. Find creative ways to weave God into your daily mix. Be creative in tuning into His soundtrack for your life. Be intentional and make it happen. If being relevant is finding a timely way to convey a timeless message, then let’s be creative in finding timely ways to tune into the timeless soundtrack of God.

For some it may be eliminating the static from your life. For others, you may find it best to use the static and white noise of your life to actually tune in to God. The process may be as much about eliminating the static in your life as it is extracting God from the static in our life. Either way, tune into God. Hear the soundtrack that He is playing for your life. Hear THE music. Hear HIS music.