Noise

COVID-19 has given people an opportunity to create content. In fact, I wonder if there isn’t more content now than ever. Then, I realize I am counted in those numbers. I wonder just how noisy I am. Is it worth adding to the noise?

COVID-19 has helped some of us prioritize and simplify. I 100% value the times I have been and continue to work from home. I value the time I have been sitting by my wife as she works. I will value the time I will sit by my kids when they do schoolwork. I’m sure my wife will value that time as well. Minimizing commutes and fighting traffic have been wonderful benefits for me, too. COVID-19 made me realize I need to simplify my social media.

At the end of December, I stopped using FaceBook. In addition, I limited the other social media I use. At one time, I had multiple accounts for the same social media. Currently, I have one account each in three different types. I do not believe it is a coincidence that things are calmer for me personally. In fact, I often recommend to my clients to consider limiting or stopping use of social media (the law of comparison is killer or me, for example). That advice probably gets ignored. I get it:“It’s how I keep up with people;” “It’s how I participate in groups;” and on and on. It is up to us as individuals to determine if the things in which we say are actually reasons or if they are excuses. The difference isn’t always easily determinable; they often sound the same.

With the social media I still use, I watch all kinds of content from time to time. While I have considered creating more and different kinds of content, I consume more than I create. When I graduated from Regent, I committed to one post here a month. While things have shifted a bit since I started this process, by the grace of God, I have been able to keep that commitment.

As I consume, though, I observe things. I watch people find their voices. Some seem to come into their own. I see some follow trends on the cool ways to post or get likes or more comments, or creepily solicit business through messages (I’m looking at you, LinkedIn), or even start new trends, etc. Some post so frequently I wonder how they actually have time to live life (I’m looking at you Twitter and Instagram). So many videos. So many hashtags. So much potential noise.

We have to decide if we are going to consume, create, or both. I think there’s value in whatever you choose. In any event, we need to ask ourselves why do we do it. What value do we get when we consume? If there isn’t any, then why consume it? What value do we add when we create? If there isn’t any, why the noise?

When I create, sometimes, I work through things in a self-focused manner. Sometimes, I write for others. Sometimes, I address what is on my heart. Sometimes, it’s a mix. There is a lot of opportunity out there in the world. This COVID-19 pause has allowed us to see this better now than perhaps ever before. While many use this time for good, some people use their opportunity and time to spread hate. I just don’t get it. With all the potential for noise, I think it’s important to ask ourselves and be honest about it: “Just what is our purpose?”

In fact, here’s a challenge for us who create content.

If we can spread anything, if we can encourage anyone, if we can incite anything, let that thing be love.

Love is a message that never gets old.

Dr. Jason Newcomb

I’m reminded by a wonderful piece of writing that I want to share with you from 1 Corinthians 13 (NLT) with emphases added.

Love Is the Greatest

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Whether you consume or create, do it with love. Honestly evaluate yourself and determine if you’re being a “noisy gong” or “clanging cymbal.” Seek support and feedback from close confidants. Be open to what you hear if you’re brave enough to ask. Whatever you do, just let your “noise” be filled with love.