This morning, I’m restating a recurring dream overnight. We’ve all been there, are there now, and will be there again.
Yes. I had a weird dream last night. It seemed to stay with me throughout the night. In my dream, I was in pristine areas tastefully planted with homes and families. Then, almost overnight, the empty acreage down the street became a colossal development. Trees were torn down, the field was bulldozed flat, and before you knew it? Apartments. Townhomes. Hotels. Resorts. Crowded in and flowing into the neighborhood, house values plummeted, and crime rose. The tumult of the sound did not make itself heard as much as it seemed to be felt.
There was nothing you could do about it.
For a moment, I tried to internalize the beauty of Washington State as it existed several hundred years ago. Small encampments of residents, stall stately trees, clean streams and rivers, and some of the most beautiful countryside you could imagine. Take the same thought to any state or city area you can imagine. There was once a time when this world was not crowded. It was naturally beautiful. Only a few got to enjoy it.
Then, the population centers expanded! The surrounding acreage is absorbed into the mix of buildings and infrastructure. What was once pristine is now a jumbled mess.
I could go on, but hopefully, you understand.
Dreams are not only the result of that last meal or the rearranging of your mental storage banks while you sleep. Dreams often tell us a different view of what we sense on the subconscious level when we are awake. We sleep, and our minds unfold images and stories we cannot see while awake. Why? We’ve filled our mental capacity to overflow with the flow of data that never ceases. The background noise drowns out all comers.
The Noise Continues
I’m sitting at my computer, and I’ve been awake for a while. No noise. No distractions. Just me and my morning routine.
Some cannot live unless the noisemakers are constantly sending their streams of messages into the quiet zone of perfect peace. I don’t enjoy noise invading my peace. I’m enjoying the quiet. Whoops… An alarm clock, the dog’s bark, and an 18-wheeler burp out a downshifting cadence, slowing for the sharp corner a quarter of a mile away.
That’s how close we are to noise.
We went on a paradise vacation and tried to enjoy it out of the giant towers of hotels. We found a nice little corner room in a small complex, prepared to enjoy paradise’s city life. But the night was anything but peaceful. Delivery and garbage trucks braked and beeped as they reversed the gears. Sirens sounded all night long. I thought this was paradise!??!
Give me the top floor away from the noise of the streets! But wait! Is it any quieter up there? Possibly. Our corner suite was dealing with the underbelly of street life at night.
Keep Paradise! Give me the wilderness!
At least the noise in the wilderness has a purpose! Animals announce their warnings, birds cheep to attract one another, and insects buzz because their wings move speedily. It’s natural noise!
What Does Noise Represent To You?
To some, noise represents progress. To others, noise must mean something that only they can comprehend. We use noise to fill the void, make ourselves known, or give us boldness when we are geared to fright.
I was listening to a commentator on the radio. The announcer broke in and talked all over the commentator’s story. Does everyone have to talk over everyone around them?. That bugs me to no end! Only one noise at a time! I have two ears, but they enjoy only a single sound.
Hmmm. Do you know why we have two ears? Balanced sound so we can tell direction and not be surprised if someone slips in from the deaf side.
Noise represents a conversation with a friend, learning from a teacher, listening to an artist’s words put to music, or even hoping to hear my bride’s voice calling to me. Whether over the phone or around the corner, noise can be a pleasant experience.
Noise even represents an alarm, a timer notes the ending of a particular period, especially when we know what to expect.
We are attuned to certain sounds that will be nothing but noise to others.
The Noise We Make and Hear
We are made up of body, soul, mind, and spirit. The only part that can make noise is the body. Mine creaks with age and joint tiredness. But the other parts of who we are (soul, mind, spirit) are the causes of our body making the most noise possible. When we make noise, it’s due to those other parts – laughter, speech, shouts, sobs, moans, and groans. We make noise with our speech, whether on a stump or in a whisper.
Maybe this is where I am this morning.
What noise are you making? Am I getting the meaning of the noise you are making? Or is it jumbled? I’m not good at deciphering your sounds. I need it to be clarion clear. [1 Corinthians 14:8]
This morning I thought about the noise God makes. He’s not always silent. David says the noise of God is greater than the noise of many waters. [Psalms 93:4] But it is also God who stills the noise of the world. [Psalms 65:7]
In my dreams, there are no sounds.
Everything is in my mind and not in my ear.
But everything has meaning, of this I am sure.
I’d rather hear God’s voice
Instead of the cadence of sounds.