Researchers in the UK have proven, at long last, what we always knew to be true – listening is hard work. More specifically the study I refer to (click here to read an interesting summary and participate in a fun video experiment) tested subjects to see if they could detect subtle audio cues when focusing on an intense visual task. While engaging with an image test, subjects were 50% less likely to detect a subtle beeping noise in the background. No duh. We’ve always known that it is hard to listen when we’re distracted. Isn’t it great when science catches up to common knowledge?
What interests me is not that distraction makes listening difficult, but that armed with this knowledge (common or scientific) as a culture we still seem hell-bent on finding more and more inventive ways of staying distracted. What is it that we desperately hope not to hear or see or encounter? Know that I’m as guilty as the next person of self-distraction. As I write this in the late evening my headphones are blaring something from my Spotify stream, the “Software Update” icon at the bottom of my screen is bouncing begging me to get the latest version of this or that program, and my Facebook feed is continuously updating me with innocuous banter from friends and family. I, like you, live amidst distraction, both self-inflicted and not.
The easy solution, some would tell us, is to simply eschew distraction. Turn off the music, unplug the computer and television, stuff the iPad in your sock drawer, and live more simply. And, certainly a diet from distraction could help. But, as they say in medicine, that would be treating the symptom not the cause. And, what is the cause?
Without being over simplistic I would wager that our intentional distraction, or, if I were honest with myself, my intentional distraction has more to do with my avoidance of pain than anything else. Life is stressful? Relationship at work out of whack? Don’t like the guy I see in the mirror? Wait! What’s that over there?!?! Squirrel!
Unfortunately, as we all know, the distractions not only drown out the doubt or pain or anxiety over change they also wash away the important and potentially positive voices in our life (let me pause for a second to see if Jude is crying). Family, friends, colleagues, even the pesky internal voice calling us to change, these are the things we need to listen to. As Christians too we affirm that the voice of God is often still and small. God is always whispering to us of God’s love for us, of God’s hope for the future, calling us to grow and blossom and live and love in return. Sometimes that voice comes to us in the midst of our pain and anxiety. If the volume is too high, it would be a tragedy, but we might just miss it.
Faithfully,
Jered+
