Why the Noise?

Why the noise? Why the constant parade of heightened decibels and vitriolic chatter that startles and shatters the serenity of the quiet heart? No possible reason exists apart from this--solitude creates the quiet space for deep reflection, meditation, contemplation. In other words, solitude allows one to think. Herein lies the problem--the vast majority of humanity abhors thought. Thinking is much too complicated an activity for ordinary man. He prefers activity and noise to the quiet pursuit of contemplation. For this very reason Richard Foster writes, "The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people or gifted people, but for deep people." Depth of personhood comes not from noise but from solitude that makes sense out of both sound and soundlessness. If one creates the space to think, he or she will find him or herself and may indeed be startled at both the brutality and beauty of self. Those who never think never know themselves and those who are never introduced to themselves can never be Christ's disciples as he intended. For, how is it possible to deny one's self in cross bearing if 'self' is an unknown personna? Perhaps the rarity of costly discipleship today (to borrow termonology from Bonhoeffer), at least in the western world, is directly connected to the scarcity of solitude.