Dear New Life,

We just launched a new teaching series yesterday called "Sound Good?". The series keys in on the theme of sound doctrine, but in researching the sermon content, I found myself diving down a bit of a rabbit hole on the diverse meanings of "sound" as a word.

That led me to thinking about noise and about silence.

We have an interesting, perhaps broken, relationship with noise and with silence. Silence is something that can be incredibly good for us, but we generally disdain it. We can't stand being bored. It feels like an immediate problem to solve when we having nothing to do. As an unwelcome bonus, we are on the receiving end of an endless clamor for our attention. It's not all something we can hear, but when you include all the info that's coming at us from our various devices and screens, it's like we are living in stadium with noise all around us. We've grown accustomed to it, so much so, that we are uncomfortable with silence.

But when I think about how I best connect with God, it's when I step out of the stadium, so to speak, to some place quiet.

When you think about the balance of noise and silence in your life, does it feel like it's time for a change? How much would you really be giving up to step away from the noise to see what God has in store for you?

Joel VanderSchel, on Behalf of the Elder and Minister Team