What the hell is going on?
One might think that the End Times are truly upon us with all the calamity that we process every time we are are witness to recent news. Questions arise that are not being answered. Thousands offer their opinions. Yet we are no closer to even beginning to comprehend the chaos around the World these days. It would be easier to tune out because it is harder to labor towards even a basic understanding of who, what, where, how, and why? But even tuning out can be a challenge.
I think that there is one word that captures the essence of it all - noise.
We are bombarded daily with wanted and unwanted noise. Noise disrupts our ability to observe objectively. Noise can help us focus. Noise can be relaxing. Noise can irritate. Noise can - it can be all things. It can be anything. But it depends on your point of view.
Catching the latest headlines whether about the tumult in the Middle East, the disaster that struck Japan, the idealogues that were swept into office last November bent on proving they meant business (yes, they did), to the weather - thunder sleet?!
For my part, an imbalance of which I spoke to a friend last Fall is now being perceived past my personal sphere. And it is an imbalance that can be heard and not just seen. And maybe this noise is too much to bear - an irritation that causes people to snap.
Like those in the recent melee on a New York subway that started over, wait for it, eating spaghetti. Watching the video of the fight didn't, surprisingly, look different than any other scenes of disaster presented on the television or over the Internet. Just a bloody mess and in that visual cacophony, hope started to raise its voice. Then hope screamed back.
After a futile yet honorable call to reason, other passengers threw themselves into the middle of the fight once, first pasta, then fists began to fly. These individuals rose up to say "ENOUGH!" And it reminded me of the citizens of Wisconsin lashing out at Gov. Scott Walker and his heavy-handed, non-transparent attack on 50 years of progressive, pro-labor policies and laws. (More on this later.)
Does this 'sound' like I'm overreaching? Or is it an internal correction to achieve balance? Perhaps a cry for help.
I need something to drown out the noise...
2 comments:
From my friend Ashley in Boston:
I think this is why I love hiking... I so agree with you - and in a way it is a relief to know that someone else feels the same way. Sometimes quiet ignorance is bliss... I was talking w/ a friend about the need for "quiet" (and I don't mean from infant cries) the other day... And weirdly we came up with maybe that's what Sabbath days were all about... One day to live in a quiet bubble and pull yourself together before the busy noisy week smacked you upside the head... Also so much of the "noise" is meaningless - do I really care what Charlie Sheen is doing? - or negative sad news. Maybe if I heard more positive things it would be more like music than "noise'...
Sharing spaghetti mind solve a lot of world problems... probably...
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