I have participated in a few on the street discussions with folks about Jesus Christ, the church, Christians and recently the subject of Easter. I remember a professor starting a class by asking, "What are you passionate about?" I knew the answer I wanted to give, and I do pray for that, but am I passionate about it? Is my mind preoccupied with it?
I answered video, but I've noticed what consumes my time more and more is learning to be still, to be quiet. Lily says I bring it up in conversation every day and I continuously write about it.
Just as asking various people what they think of the subjects above brings both caustic reactions as well as thoughtful responses, asking someone what it means to be quiet brings a remarkable array of answers. The answers were so different; not so much in the definition, but in what people compared quiet to. Quiet is when my spouse finally shuts up, when the baby stops crying, when my neighbor finally quits working in his shop, when the kids go to bed. The list of items that needed to be removed to produce quiet went on and on. Quiet is when I finally get alone in the car, alone in my office, walk the dog. Almost everyone asked described quiet as the opposite of something else, the cessation of what they were doing, enduring, engaged in or suffering from. At that moment they defined quiet as its absence.
So, is focus the absence and elimination of distractions? Is cold the absence of heat? Is love the absence of hate? Is quiet the absence of noise? Is disquiet the opposite of quiet? What does it mean to be disquieted?
Would you say our world is filling with more and more noise? Would you say our world is becoming more and more disquieted? Are they the same? When I think of disquiet I think of anxious, not necessarily noise. Noise can numb as well as addict. I think noise, especially a familiar background noise actually helps calm some people.
Are we disquieted when we realize we are not in control? Think of the disrupting power of nature, unemployment, war. Have you notice when interviewed after someone has broken into their car or home the victim often says they feel violated? They were unable to control what happened to them. When someone says they feel violated are they reacting to the sudden confrontation of helplessness?
Not knowing, doubt, anxiousness, the feelings of not being in control can all be suppressed, dumbed down, numbed by drugs, activity, and noise. Can being quiet release those things to wreck havoc on our consciousness?
Look around and see how others react-respond to this deluge or maybe go to the Portland Museum. Since February 20th and through May 16th the Portland Museum is presenting an exhibition from contemporary artists called Disquiet.
Being quiet, being still is often a battle that must be chosen. It is a battle that many fear and prefer not to fight. In the end, however, if someone wants to come to grips with the reality that none of us are in control than it is a battle we must engage in. Overcoming disquiet is a war that can be won.
Check out the exhibit at the Portland Museum.
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