Silence and Priorities.

I have a problem.

Chances are, you share this problem as well.

It's a common social ill nowadays, and what's worse, it is often glorified.

We put too much stock in our lives. It is very difficult to seperate what is good, true, and necessary, from what is merely convenient, attractive, and self-glorifying. This is where "careers" replace "callings" and "vocations" are usurped by practicalities.

This social disease has a universal symptom: the lack of silence. The average American fears only death and spiders more than silence, recent surveys show.

Silence is where God resides, and therefore the truth.

The tragedy of the modern Atheistic movement, led by 'intellectuals' like Richard Dawkins, is only succeeding on casting enough doubt to move the uneducated and weak of faith. In trying to deconstruct religion, they are deconstructing humanity. When they say that "the only real thing is the here and now," the miss the most important parts of what makes us human and what gives our lives meaning. They often sight the ills brought about by organized religion, failing to see that one century of atheist/secularist rule has generated a greater body-count than 19 centuries of Europan Christianity combined.

Unfortunately, many people of various belief-stripes, including myself at times, fall into the mistake of overembracing the secular, and not separting meaning from reality and destiny from selfish convenience.

It's a common flaw, and it is only cured by... silence.

The silence leads us inward. Coming inward, we discover God. We go deeper, and the next thing you know, you're living the "examined life."

It's actually really easy to start. It's just hard to keep it going, considering all of the modern American fabric, religion included, is geared to lead us away from the contemplative lifestyle.

When looking inside of myself, beneath the sometimes cheerful sometimes sarcastic exterior, I found troubling things. I found confusion and shallowness of heart. I found a fickle and sometimes selfish nature. I found more fear than I ever thought could reside in me.

It's a troubling thing, when you discover how many of your "decisions" are motivated by a deep current of fear.

So, I have two choices: 1.)Pretend the problem doesn't exist and take the nearest ride into suburban controversy-free paradise, or 2.)deal with it.

What do you have to deal with? What noise in your life prevents you from dealing with your own issues, or from even realizing they are there?

Is the person with their new hummer, burgeoning stock-portfolio, 9 blackberries all keeping track of different financial situations, six personal assistants, a perfect wife and house and job, really living the "life?"

Or, is he hiding from something?