I wrote that phrase in the middle of the white board the first day I ever taught high school science, back in the day. In big cursive. The message did not go over well with the parents who insisted their kids be able to “express themselves.” Now their kids are adults driving down a "highway to hell."
So be it.
Everything around us is full of noise. Traffic, endless chatter, 95% of daily news headlines (secular + Catholic ones) being stupid noise. Everything must be exposed and hashed out. The unspoken rule is you must verbally promote yourself, defend yourself, describe yourself to your neighbor. Everything out in the world, and between individuals, must be discussed and analyzed like dissecting a cat in biology lab.
Our Lord was a man of great silence. Most of what we read was of his actions, and prayer, more than his actual verbal teachings. He did. Period. When necessary, he talked. Just like his foster father St. Joseph.
Our social media, narcissism, materialism, superficial status-addicted culture is addicted to all the endlessly perpetuating Noise. Which is why I try to unplug as much as possible.
I have a few YouTube channels I watch now and then, one Catholic, a few outdoors oriented. I scan very quickly the daily headlines for what really matters to God—all things pertaining to our Catholic Faith, the family, the sanctity of human life, etc—and then unplug.
I leave the Facebook and Twitter culture for the zombies. As well as Cable TV and Netflix.
Silence is Golden. I love the sobriety, mental clarity, and soul enrichment that silence brings. Like drinking black coffee early in the morning, or quietly working up a sweat chopping firewood. Which is why I don’t say much IRL in group settings, ie avoiding the noise and useless chatter of our banal, hedonistic culture. I enjoy fruitful, authentic, lively conversation, about Truth in all its kinds, an experience which is few and far between.
Which is why when I have the hard choice between silence and the Noise, I choose silence.
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Questions, constructive feedback, or just to say what’s up Okie, email me at:
JosephOstermeir@gmail.com