Entertainment Tonight

Elementary school was a fascinating experience. The world seeped into my life like water through a sponge. Unlike the analogy of a sponge, my eyes were never saturated, my ears could never hold enough. Sensory input, to a pre-teen, is as important as breathing. Nothing compares to music, dancing, sunlight - coloring, laughing, trembling in expectation like a puppy waiting to be petted.



Sometimes I look back at pictures from the '70's, faded a bit at the edges, grainy if not dull, the photos gush forth with emotion long capped in the well of the present. Looking at the photograph, I can make the movie projector of my mind spin a silent movie of that day, or what my mind has constructed of the day of the photograph. There is a picture of me standing in front of the house, new shoes, new clothes - it was my first day of fourth grade. The big yellow bus soon picked us up and transported all of us children two miles into the metroplis of Rake, Iowa. I would find out later that day, that we had the biggest class in upper elementary - 13 children. Of course, of those 13, roughly one quarter were Matthias children.



Fourth grade offers different opportunities for learning. We were beyond coloring for the most part; we had learned our multiplication tables and most of us had an extensive grasp of reading the English language. What we were exposed to, though, were educational movies. It was most exciting - this was pre-VCR era. Perhaps once a year my parents would take us to the theater to watch a movie, but at school the movie was brought to us. Mrs. Applehons would herd her 13 children, the 5 fifth grade children and 8 sixth grade children down the hallway to the tornado shelter (that was where we were shown movies - it was the darkest place in the school). Each child would plop their bodies into a desk as Mrs. Applehons threaded the reel through the projector. She must have had hours of training to do that complicated procedure. Then, there was a clicking noise as the 8mm film moved through the projector - a brief pause, the lights went out, the girls giggled, then the countdown of grey numbers - 3 - 2 - 1, we counted with them. Then a whole new world opened up. We were entertained by education.



That was a different world.



Now we are assaulted by movies, music, television, so many different i-things I can't keep up. Because of these new entertainments, new fandangled gadgets, certain consequences have popped out of nowhere.



1. Many people are deficient in communicating verbally. It is easier to e-mail than to call. Less messy when one can avoid emotional confrontations. I have seen youth, sitting in the same room, who text each other rather than speak face to face. A study was also done and it is said that 90% of youth today have difficulty looking adults in the eye. Perhaps this comes from constant communication with gadgets instead of people.



2. Instead of gadgets freeing more time, they actually make us susceptible to lack of time. We are accessible night or day - cell phones are dog collars that allow us no freedom. E-mail demands constant attention; many people check their e-mail a dozen times per day.



3. We can ignore and shut out other people. I have noticed an abundance of people now wearing some kind of cell phone adjunct in one ear. People are turning in to cyborgs. This is my own opinion, but by wearing the ear piece, the person is communicating to those in close proximity, that the wearer can cut off communication at any time when the person's usefulness is up. I have difficulty speaking to adults when they wear the ear piece/cell phone adjunct.



4. We have so much noise we cannot possibly hear what God has for us. Elijah stood out on the mountain and God said that He would pass by. A great wind - a noisy wind pressed in closely to Elijah, but God did not speak in the wind. An ground shattering earthquake followed, but in that noise, God was not. A fire whipped across the mountain like runaway locomotive and once again, God's voice could not be heard. Then, as Elijah wrapped his cloak around his face, covered his ears, God spoke in the silence. 1 Kings 19 11-13



In the entertainment age, our souls yearn for gratification. I-pods plug our ears; cinemas charge us nine dollars per film to escape the pressures of life; cell-phones make us feel alive and wanted. These things are not bad in themselves but when do wrap our ears in silence and wait at the end of the dark cave for the voice of God? When do we put down the instruments of entertainment and engage God on a speaking level? It may not be a physical hearing (or it may be, you never know) but the Spirit moves in front of our caves and in our lives so many times without us hearing or acknowledging. Let us be quiet.



I wrote a poem 12 years ago.



Sometimes sitting in silence is like soaking in a warm bath,
Sopping up the noiseless air, it consumes me; it gives me
a sense of weightlessness.
Close your eyes, let all other senses take control.
It's amazing what one can hear,
When eyes shut.

Silence doesn't necessarily bring sleep
As noise doesn't always bring comprehension.

Quiet is as necessary to the soul
as food is to the body.

Without both
I lose life.



Maybe, this week, cut down on the input. Leave your cell phone off for two hours at night. Try a conversation face to face with someone. Look them in the eye - smile, laugh, experience life through your senses. Then, when the quiet seems overwhelming, close your eyes and listen for a still small voice.



Who knows? God might just be following the storm, the shaking and the fire?