"I suppose it goes without saying that we live in a very fast-paced, hectic, and noisy world. We're often in a big hurry to get somewhere. Stress is the norm and noise is all around us in the form of radios, televisions, iPods, etc. We're plugged in but often tuned out. Very few of us live at the pace or volume of normal life.
"So overstimulated are we that many literally cannot relax when it is quiet; silence unnerves them. I recently took an informal poll in a class I was teaching and found that 40% of the students said they cannot fall asleep without a television or radio playing in the background. Many phones and clock-radios have a 'sleep' function to allow them to play for a certain amount of time and then turn off (presumably after we have fallen asleep). We used to set our clock-radios to wake us up; now we use them to 'soothe' us to sleep with their background noise.
"Wow, that's really overstimulated.
"Silence is precious and is a necessary ingredient for the spiritual life. We do well to build as much of it as possible into our lives. . . ."
In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish,
Washington, DC) reflected on the importance of silence for our spiritual lives.
To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:
Msgr. Charles Pope: Silence Is Necessary - On Cultivating Silence in Our Soul (28 MAY 15)
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