Noise: The Injection of Negativism

Recently I made a dramatic change; I opted out of various social media and news sitesbecause of one reason. This was injecting negativism into my life on a daily, sometimeshourly basis. We reside in a highly-reactive society, mostly non-reflective online culture. Nomatter what we say, as positive as it may be, someone somewhere will come along and throw alandmine in it. Suddenly our beautiful moment with our thoughts becomes a sitting duck forsomeone who woke up in a bad mood. I decided to expel the negativity, in a bonfire of goodbye.After a week, I already feel so much lighter and brighter, and more peaceful to be sure.Nowadays, I can’t give space to minus signs. I strive for the plus signs. The arrows up,not down, the green lights, not the red. Life is complicated enough as it is from the minute weawake. It need not be further complicated with the choice I was making to look at upsettingthings. Also, notably, I’ve felt much closer to God as well. I’ve sensed the presence of God muchmore since ditching the noise. There is no substitute for peace of mind, rather than others givingus a piece of their online mind.What would God say about this transformation? I know Jesus as a pastoral presence, agentle calm. I have to believe God wants a noise-reducer on my life. Perhaps the presence I’vefelt was that confirmation.So, I inquire, what can we unplug in our daily lives to plug in more towhat truly matters? We don’t have to join a monastery to find quiet. It’s a matter of searching outsmall ways that add up to less noise. This seems impossible in our app-obsessed society thatseems to primarily function on a USB port. But the world doesn’t turn on an iPhone; it turns onthe axis created by God.