“Sick Noise?” Blog #163
DO I have courage to start today in complete silence and prayer?
CAN I meet people “where they are at” and give help if they ask?
IS noise around me clouding my thinking and blocking out truth?
Everything in my life is a noisy test to see “which road” I will go down today. When I woke
up this morning I knew immediately, today IS the ninth day of Lent. God, it is hard….how in
the world did HE do it for forty days and nights….no food? Right away the noise from my
thoughts and feelings and fears creep in. Should I quick get up and ignore the need to
pray first? Discipline wins out today!
Last week I made a promise to myself what to give up and said I would try to keep it. Very
hard at first, but one never knows how weak one is until trying to be very strong. Now each
day I get stronger. I feel more disciplined. I feel better about me. I am far from perfect, so
when I start to give in, I think of the “5 Second Rule”. The simple science in this rule is this,
the less time I give my brain to think about “what I am giving up”, the better. I quickly go do
something else that needs my attention. I start over. I can apply this rule to anything in
my life that bothers me; that I want to STOP. It’s amazing how my Guardian Angel nudges
me when I forget. It’s very interesting in the way people around me view Lent. For the most
part, they DON’T. People actually rationalizing this way, “Well, I’m just not into it…”. Let me
remind you, God is greater, stronger and wiser than any of us. When HE needs my
attention, W H A M….. something will happen quickly. I promise you this.
We are not meant to be on earth to JUST THINK ABOUT OUR OWN NEEDS AND WANTS AND
WORRIES. I have found this to be extremely self-serving, isolating and lonely! Vicious
circles of old past memories, try to hold me down, sabotage me, I say good bye to this old
garbage. The constant noise crisis around me is difficult to say the least. Where isn’t there
noise? Besides, the older one gets, the more settled in certain routines one becomes.
Some good, some bad. None easy to disrupt. Constant thought, noise, worries spinning
around inside my head are not easy to silence. Where and when and how to turn off the
sick noise and INVITE HIM IN?
I am reading a fascinating book during Lent called “The Screwtape Letters”, written by C.
S. Lewis. The book is captivating for the most part because of the plot. This story is all
about the Devil named Screwtape, and his young nephew, Wormwood. He instructs his
nephew to take a deliberate role in a mans Christian life and faith by sabotaging his
beliefs. With his nephew Wormwoods help, they persist in ushering him into going to Hell.
The greatest weapon “Screwtape”, aka Satan, possesses is, NOISE, noise inside a persons
head. Screwtape has a myriad of other weapons he instructs Wormwood to use carefully
as well. Screwtape calls the young, Christian man, “the patient”. Then in thirty one sinister
letters to Wormwood, Screwtape shows his diabolical face and severe attempts to
persuade and bring this Christian man down. Screwtape tells Wormwood to use every
trick imaginable. The book is a fascinating read because the main character Screwtape,
portrays so many of Satan’s subtle ways leading well in to today.
In Letter XII, Screwtape remarks: “……the safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle
slope, soft underfoot without sudden turns, without milestones…”. Screwtape gives
Wormwood very effective strategies for tempting a human life from the view point of an
experienced Devil. Finally the most genuinely thought provoking part of this entire read,
concerns not just the book but its author. The author has so much credibility and has
written too many famous books to note here. However, C. S. Lewis was a brilliant educated
British man BUT a complete Agnostic, until….
Living in a permissive, noisy, secular society, life becomes all about me. I Look around.
When something catastrophic happens, one attempt to search internally. Are words of
mine healing or hurtful? Those who read my words on this Blog site are obviously looking
for deeper meaning to life. I only share what I have learned coming from horrific pain,
sadness and complete loss. Where there is no self-denial there is no VIRTUE.
Secular noise is a dark distraction. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t know Jesus.
Can I pray for courage to take part in Lent today?
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