Listening to the white noise

Personal Photo: Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world. My mom has always kept hummingbird feeders out during the spring and summer, and this particular hummingbird was fluttering right by the feeder long enough for me to snap this photo of it. I could have so easily missed the whir of its wings and the light on its iridescent back. The simplicity of this little creature helps me recognize God's attention to detail, and I am blessed that I saw it, caught a photo of it, and can look back and appreciate it :)

Usually Saturday mornings are times that I spend alone; Clay sleeps in and I wake up to get ready for the blog to get published, make tweaks, make a social media post, create the email notification, and sip my tea. Jersey (our rescue dog), usually stays in bed, snuggled up next to Clay, and then they come down an hour or two later. This morning was a bit different; I snuck out of bed and got dressed, but when I opened the door to come downstairs, Jersey hopped off the comforter and followed. No doubt the little pup is my shadow on most days when I am home, but she usually always picks laying in bed if someone is still in it. Well, since she chose to come with me this morning, I leashed her up and faced the cold and moody skies to take her out. While I was out there, I was surprised how nice it felt. I found the cold a bit refreshing instead of shocking, and the sky was bright even though it was cloudy. But what I noticed most of all was that the birds were out and singing.

I stood outside for a little bit, appreciating their song and realizing that I had not had the pleasure of hearing the chirping of birds in the morning in quite some time. Was it because it was so cold and there were less birds out and about? Was I up too early in the morning leaving for work to catch them awake? Was the wind too loud in my ears that I missed it? Or was it just because I wasn't paying attention. Regardless of the reason, the sweet simplicity of the birds singing touched me on this gloomy morning. The Lord has amazing ways of showing Himself to us and blessing us.

The focus of this article to consider the impact of simplicity. Look around us and you will realize you will have to search for the simple things in life. Our cell phones rest in our hands or our pockets wherever we go, our television guides keep getting longer, the grocery store selections are more than abundant, the commitments at work and school are overwhelming, and the expectation that we are available, have more time, and can handle more is ever present. Hardly anything is simple anymore. Why do you think our anxiety levels are through the roof, depression cases are on the rise, and people are, in general, less friendly. The extreme level of stress, expectations, and balls we try to juggle are all too much. It is distracting, overcomplicated, and entirely unnecessary.

Yes, the commitments we make, the job offers we accept, the classes we sign up for, and more, are all important. However, it is also important to make time for the things not scheduled on our calendars, the things that do not demand our attention. The little things. And it can be easy to miss the little things when we are bustling from one thing to the next. James 3:4 points out "Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs." Our focus can often be on the big things in life, but we fail to recognize that the driving forces are really the little things. My point is that our lives can be so distracting, so overwhelming, that we miss the birds chirping. We miss the rudder. We miss the simple things in life that calm us down, that remind us about God being in charge, that bring us bubbles of joy in a world that constantly craves more from us. In the hubbub of it all, we lose perspective, we easily miss the things that we enjoy, and we find ourselves too busy, too stressed, too frustrated to listen to the white noise.

Ah yes, the white noise of life. The birds chirping in the morning, the sunshine peeking out for an hour or two, the way the clouds dance in the sky, the sound of the rustling leaves, the heavy breathing of your pet lying next to you, the subtle compliments you receive from your significant other, the babbling of your young child, the sizzle of the bacon in the frying pan, the rain on the roof. I could go on and on. White noise is everywhere. It is all the little things, all the things we get too busy to notice. We call it white noise, because it is all the stuff we tune out, all the sounds that are always just there, that we do not have to pay attention to. We can go on living our lives and completely ignore the white noise of the world. However, what do we miss when we dismiss the white noise of life?

What I find is that God is in every chord of that white noise. He is in the birds singing, the sunshine warm on our face, He makes the clouds pretty to us, brings us a sense of calm through the sounds of life, and so on. He is what helps us notice the white noise, helps us appreciate the simplicity of it amidst the chaos around us, and He often communicates with us, not in spectacular ways, but instead in small, simple ways. He does not shout at us like the rest of the world does, but instead God is just like the calming nature of the white noise. We have to pay attention to it, but when we do, we find the peace that comes with it. We are told in Romans 10:17 "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." The simplicity of listening to God, instead of tuning Him out, helps us carry the weight of everything else we are handling. We practice our faith by listening and paying attention to the ways that God speaks to us, and when we stop overlooking the white noise, but start listening to it, we find God in every part of it.

God has a way of bringing our feet back to the ground. He calls us to the things that make the most impact, that shape who we are, that remind us about His love for us and His gift of grace. John 10:27-28 reminds us that "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." I love this verse when considering the simplicity of focusing on the white noise. We know the sound of birds, we are aware of all the things that we so easily tune out, but the key is listening. When we focus on the simple things in life, on the little things, on the tune-out-able things, we realize the gift of them, we appreciate the ways God speaks to us through them, and we are more able to hear His word when He speaks to us.

To further intertwine the theme of simplicity with the importance of being aware of the simple things, I want to consider Jesus and His birth. Jesus did not come to earth as a solider, a warrior, or a flashy hero. No, He came in a manger, and His birth was exclaimed first to the shepherds. Shepherds themselves were part of the background, part of the white noise (Check out my article on shepherds, entitled 'You, me, and the shepherds"). Jesus was so easily overlooked by so many, His words so easily tuned out because He lacked status, popularity, and clout. Jesus was simple. His love for us is simple. The ways in which He speaks to us is simple. And when we begin to focus on the things we might have been tuning out, we will find that the simplicity is how God reaches us. Jesus tells us plainly that "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst" in John 6:35. He is so clear here; He does not muddle His message, but when we get caught up in the complications of life, we can easily overlook this, quickly tune it out, begin to look to other people and other things to give us satisfaction, acceptance, and fulfillment.

I mentioned earlier that the white noise of life is so easily tuned out because it does not need anything from us. The birds will continue to sing if we do not give them anything for it, the rain will continue to fall if we do not recognize it, the bacon will always sizzle in a hot pan. And Jesus will always love us. God will always be calling us to Him. White noises are constants in life, which is what makes them so simple. We seek the simple when we feel overwhelmed, and we find calm, peace, and joy in the simplicity of life's white noise. Romans 8:6 tells us "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." The background noise is where the Holy Spirit resides, and as soon as we make a point to listen to the white noise that we so easily tune out, we will find peace among the chaos, guidance among the noise, and the simplicity of God's love.

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