"If you're adding to the noise..."

Switchfoot has a song that I find particularly enlightening about “the stuff” of life competing for our attention. The chorus goes something like:

If we're adding to the noise
turn off this song
If we're adding to the noise
turn off your stereo, radio, video

Last night as I was driving home after spending a great week with Jill and then catching some much needed reflective time with M.K. on my way home, I felt a huge craving for quiet. Normally on long car drives (especially the late night ones since I’m NOT a late night person!), anything I can do to distract myself with music, coffee, etc. the better. But last night as I was tempted to just put on the tunes and coast home, the chorus of this song kept going through my head. I realized very quickly that my heart was telling me to take this opportunity to pursue the quiet.

Plunging the internal depths of my heart, I used the time to think back on some of the conversations that I had either engaged in or listened to from the week. Thank you Jill, Alethea, M.K., Correnta, Sarah B., the Birthday Group for offering your ears and your hearts. As my heart listened in again, I found myself praying through those scenes and asking the Lord what it might be that He wants to pose to my heart. I was surprised by the new questions that found their way to the surface.

The reflective time in the car was deeply refreshing. And today I’m wondering how much of my heart I crowd out of my attention due to a high concentration of background noise? In living alone I admit that I often find myself turning the TV on to just have “noise” – there are a number of times it’s just on while I’m doing something else, mostly just providing some sort of replacement. Replacement for what, I’m not really sure. Sometimes I like the noise because it makes me feel less alone…like someone is in the house with me. Other times, I think it’s just on because it’s filler noise while I’m doing something particularly mundane. (Uh, for instance it’s on now while I’m typing this blog!)

In any case, I find myself wondering today:
How often have I missed questions or thoughts my heart is really embracing (or needs to embrace) because of noise…external and/or internal?
Have I missed something the Spirit is trying to tell me because I’ve fallen into a habit of allowing noise to steal my attention away?