OON SILENCE WILL HAVE PASSED INTO LEGEND. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation."
--Jean Arp.

In the 1980s my girlfriends and I loved to sing the Bangles' top 40 hit "Manic Monday." With quick punchy lyrics, the song bemoaned having to rise for work at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, catch the train, and try to make a living while looking forward to the weekend.

At the time, we adolescents sang the song gleefully. We were not commiserating with the reality of how manic Mondays actually can be for working adults--our favorite part of the song is when singer Susanna Hoffs describes waking up at 6:00 in the morning from a dream in which she was "kissin' Valentino by a crystal-blue Italian stream."

Oh, how times have changed. Now that I am one of those working adults I get it. I understand the bemused acceptance of a work schedule that boasts long hours in order to subsist (and thrive) in today's world. And I understand the need to make the most of time off--the somewhat frenetic desire to partake in hobbies, socialize, and in general be entertained.

But the permanent acceptance of such a hurried, noisy lifestyle is dangerous, for in its permanence other facets of life are obscured. When the noise of this world overshadows the quiet "soul-time" we should be partaking in, the ramifications are deadly. It isn't rocket science, but for some reason people seem to miss the fact that life cannot be a whirl of endless activity--sooner or later the merry-go-round will lurch to a halt. Then what? We may become little more than a human husk, dry and dead on the inside and of insignificant value to anyone.

Some may think that the necessity of striving for this balance between noise and quiet applies to those who are in and of the world--those of us who have accepted Jesus and His commission (Matt. 28:19, 20) are above these challenges. We tend to think that being a Christian will automatically put all our "ducks in a row." And that we don't really need to make an effort to stay connected to Jesus. That is untrue. Anything can become a hindrance in our relationship with Christ. Work, play, and everything in between can drown out the most important facet of life, which is our relationship with our Lord and Savior.

We are all in the same boat. Amidst the storm, we all need to look across the water to Jesus.

What Are We Here For?
Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life was released in October 2002, and by January 2003 had hit the New York Times best seller list, where it has remained, accumulating sales of more than 4 million copies in less than nine months.1 A number one seller in the Christian marketplace, the book has also been number 1 on the New York Times hardcover advice list, number 1 on the Publishers Weekly religion hardcover best-seller list, number 2 on The Wall Street Journal hardcover nonfiction list, number 7 on Amazon.com, and number 20 on the USA Today top 50 best-selling list.2 And although Christianity Today has dubbed Warren "America's most influential pastor," Warren himself calls the book "an anti-self-help book,"3 informing readers in the book's first line: "It's not about you."4

Why is this book, with its short sentences and unpretentious analogies, so popular? Because it gives people the simplicity they are seeking. It is the quiet answer that can lead them away from the static of earthly living by telling them why they are living: "You are here for God."

The Purpose Driven Life attempts to teach that God created individuals with five distinct purposes in mind: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions. God wants everyone to live in balance between the five purposes. While this book isn't my personal favorite, its point is impossible to ignore: we are here for God. And anything that gets in between God and us needs to be examined.

So what are the things that get in the way of our relationship with God? The most common factors (or distracters) include career, family and home, hobbies, entertainment, and church office and volunteerism.

Sandy Foundation or the Rock of Ages?
One of the loudest noisemakers is career. It doesn't matter what the job is--tree farmer or corporate CEO--we can end up living just to work. I currently stretch my mental muscle tapping away on a computer to meet weekly deadlines. I'm not earning money for frivolities and a distant college fund, as I did when I worked in menial, physically taxing jobs in high school--I'm paying for the roof over my head, water to drink, food to eat, and electricity to keep the lights on. The stakes are much higher now, but it's true that whatever we do to support ourselves and/or our families--be it gas station attendant or church administrator--can eclipse everything else in our lives. Damage is done when the scales are tipped toward career; the only true leveler is Jesus.

Christ always encouraged industry. He asked the indolent, "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" (Matt. 20:6). According to Ellen G. White, "[Jesus] showed them that God has entrusted everyone with talents, which are to be improved and multiplied by faithful use."5 But when He saw "men absorbed in pursuit of worldly riches, using their entrusted capabilities to obtain advantage over one another, He exclaimed, 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven!'"6

The problem with career is twofold. First, we must not get so absorbed in our work that we don't take the time to talk with Jesus, fellowship with our fellow human beings, and care for our earth. "All work and no play" doesn't just make "Jack" dull; it prevents him from the peace and vibrancy a life lived closely with Jesus produces. Tim Hansel writes, "Our world seems intoxicated with hurry. It seems to be inundated with a hurricane desire to precipitate the future. . . .

"Some men named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tried to tell us of a man who left eternity and entered into time, and yet who walked within the boundaries of an eternal rhythm. They tried to tell us of the love that was beyond measure; a hope beyond reason; and a lifestyle that could have its source in an eternal rhythm. Little did these men, these Gospel writers, know how busy we would be. Little did they know how important our work would be. . . . But they told us about a life, the Life, who lived according to a different timetable. Even in our day, the eternal beat goes on."7

Second, the more we work and earn, the more we want. Possessions and the procurement of them become tantamount in our lives, and Jesus gets lost in the trove of earthly treasures.

The musical group Big Tent Revival sings about "Two Sets of Jones's," comparing a couple who have "nothing but Jesus" with a wealthy pair who let money and work tear them asunder. The song goes on to ask a pointed question: "Is your life built on the rock of Christ Jesus? Or a sandy foundation you've managed to lay?"

Home Care Left Behind
Sunlight dripped in the window as I sat down in front of my home computer. I glanced out at a vista of yellow and red leaves, then turned back to my computer with a contented sigh. Smiling to myself a bit, I opened the file for this article and started to write. I was working at home, the distractions at the office becoming too much for me. With the baby safely in the care of the sitter, husband off at work, and the dog curled at my feet, I started to churn out words. Then the phone rang.

My husband told me he was taking the car to an auto-body place to fix a ding he got in a minor fenderbender and asked me to make sure the car seat was installed in our other vehicle. I hung up and turned the tub's faucet on cold for our dog (who has gotten into the annoying habit of wanting to drink from it instead of his water dish). The old handle got stuck. Water streamed out, unstoppable. I called a plumber, and (long story short) several hours later the problem was fixed. During the time I waited for the faucet to be fixed my mother called. She had a meeting in the area the next day and was on her way down to my house. "I can spend the night at your house, right?" she asked.

"Of course," I said, on the one hand thrilled to be able to see her for a bit. On the other, I looked around at the unmade guest bed and unvacuumed floor and knew I was done writing for the day. Hours later, as everyone settled in for the night, I dropped into bed without cracking open the Bible. Rushing a prayer that I never finished, I fell asleep.

It wouldn't do any good to stress over this one day. Problems arise (we aren't in heaven yet!), and we have to deal with them. The danger is in our elevating the importance of day-to-day events above moments spent in meditation and prayer. And don't think leaving off the things of this world that demand your time will be without its own challenges.

A friend of mine told me how hard it was for her to set time aside. She started spending time with Jesus early in the morning while the sky was still dim. Before the week ended, her son was getting up at the same time, wanting her company. So my friend changed her schedule to evening devotions until her other child got a job and needed transportation. Finally, she decided to devote her lunch hour to eating a sandwich at her desk and talking with God. She was undeterred and steadfast in her desire to keep her relationship with Christ healthy. We too must have such conviction. To do any less will not produce satisfactory results.

Ellen G. White wrote, "You need not weary yourselves with busy anxieties and needless cares. Work on for the day, faithfully doing the work which God's providence assigns you, and He will have a care for you. Jesus will deepen and widen your blessings. You must make efforts if you have salvation at last. . . . Leave your home cares, and come to find Jesus, and He will be found of you. Come with your offerings as God has blessed you."8 In other words, be both Martha and Mary in one person.

Soccer Mom
When I didn't have any children, soccer was one of my hobbies. Not only did I coach and watch games on TV; I played five or six times a week. That's right--I was participating in six leagues, playing twice on Sundays, and once each evening Monday through Thursday. My husband worked an evening shift, so I said yes to everyone who asked me to play on their team, and before I knew it I was living and breathing soccer. I'd run to practice or a college game, grab something to eat, then drive over to a recreational game, getting home around 11:00 most every night.

Once pregnant, things changed. I stopped playing when it became risky and began to think about how I was spending my life. Deeply ashamed, I realized how selfish it was for me to become so immersed in my hobby that I abstained from the things I should be doing as a Christian. What about being involved in Sabbath school? What about helping with food drives? What about handing out tracts for evangelistic series? What about attending Bible studies? Talking to God? These were things I used to do, until my hobby took over.

I have resumed playing soccer, sometimes with baby in tow (teammates love watching her on the sidelines). But I'm a different soccer mom, curtailing my play dramatically so that I have time for other activities, including raising my child. I am tempted, at times, to overcommit again. Prayer is working wonders, however, so I plan to keep at it and let God curb my enthusiasm for my hobby. And I plan to take Ellen White's great advice: "Many parents plead that they have so much to do that they have no time to improve their minds, to educate their children for practical life, or to teach them how they may become lambs of Christ's fold.

"Parents must not neglect to arm their own minds against sin, to guard against that which will not only ruin themselves, but transmit pain and every kind of misery and evil to their offspring. By correctly educating themselves, parents are to teach their children that the heavens do rule."9

Entertaining Thoughts
You may think me silly and immature for letting sports feature so prominently in my life. You may be right. But all of us have activities we like to do--we may be in danger of being swallowed up by those activities. Hobbies (any scrapbookers out there?) are a piece of the much larger pie that includes the news and entertainment fed to us constantly from various media boasting 24-7 coverage.

It has been more than 20 years since cable and television remote controls blanketed America. Remember when people had less than a dozen television channels from which to choose--and could change the channel only by actually turning the dial on the TV? I do--barely. And do you remember when watching a movie was a rare Saturday night event in the church fellowship hall, with the film projector and rattling film reel? How about when we got our news from the daily newspaper or evening TV news?

Oh, how times have changed. With a plethora of 24-hour cable news channels, Internet news and entertainment services, faxes, e-mails, and instant messaging, there is never a time when silence reigns. If a person doesn't make a concentrated effort to set aside quiet time, it will never happen.

It isn't just the overabundance of news that distracts. From sitcoms to TV dramas, from movies to arcades, we can choose to be continuously entertained. And if we are living for this type of self-gratification, we will not spend enough time with our Lord and Savior. Jesus was clear: "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."10

We need to get our hearts and thoughts together, and we cannot do this if we don't take the time to meet with Jesus on a regular basis. Minus the computer, cell phones, radio, and television (that means all 700 channels!). People say that the devil is in the details. I say he's in the noise.

C. S. Lewis wrote as a demon in his book The Screwtape Letters. In it, Lewis is Screwtape, an uncle to a lesser demon named Wormwood. Screwtape writes letters to Wormwood, giving him guidance/advice on how to get a young Christian man to become a follower of Satan. A keen writer, Lewis is shockingly accurate in his descriptions of things that tear us away from God. As Screwtape, Lewis wrote, "Music and silence--how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell--though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express, no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise--Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile--Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. . . . The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end."11

Church Policy
Working for the church can be detrimental. Let me explain (before I cause a flurry of angry letters). Jesus made it clear that we should do the work entrusted to us by God while "it is day; [for] the night is coming when no one can work."12 As Christians we all know the Great Commission found in Matthew, and (thanks to Paul) we all know that each of us is gifted in certain ways--and that we should use our talents to bring others to Jesus. But there are limits to what we as humans are capable of doing. If we aren't careful, we can burn out on good works. The only way to safeguard against that is (you guessed it) to have a close relationship with God in which prayer features notably.

I was still living at home when my dad got "church overload." He was baptized in the Atlantic Ocean when I was 4 years old, and from that point on he was very dedicated to serving his church family. He became a deacon and eventually an elder. He also served as Sabbath school superintendent (and was on the nominating committee, church board, school board . . .). During one summer all the jobs collided. During the two weekends of camp meeting my dad had to do it all: he opened the church; he ran Sabbath school; he taught the lesson; he shared the worship service announcements, gave the pastoral prayer, and preached the sermon. And became frustrated. Spending all week preparing for his duties on Sabbath, then running around all day left Dad no time with the family and very little time with God.

Stress enters our lives. Even helping others can be a stress factor. The good news is that God will give us the strength to deal with it all, if only we ask. He'll also show us what jobs we should and shouldn't take. But seeking the Lord requires time. If all we have are "Gimme God" moments, we will eventually fail. We will burn out. Making the commitment to be still and commune with God takes faith, but the rewards are incredible. We can truly labor for God--and He will supply all our needs--without worry if we depend on Him and keep the communication line open. We can take heart with these words: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"13

Ellen White described the life of the consummate church worker, Paul. She wrote, "Paul did many things. From the time that he gave his allegiance to Christ, his life was filled with untiring service. From city to city, from country to country, he journeyed, telling the story of the cross, winning converts to the gospel, and establishing churches. For these churches he had a constant care, and he wrote many letters of instruction to them. At times he worked at his trade to earn his daily bread. But in all the busy activities of his life, Paul never lost sight of one great purpose--to press toward the prize of his high calling. One aim he kept steadfastly before him--to be faithful to the One who at the gate of Damascus had revealed Himself to him. From this aim nothing had power to turn him aside. . . . The great purpose that constrained Paul to press forward in the face of hardship and difficulty should lead every Christian worker to consecrate himself wholly to God's service."14

"If we were left to ourselves to plan, we should make mistakes. Our prejudices, our weaknesses, our self-deceptions, and our ignorances would be manifest in many ways. But the work is the Lord's, the cause is His; He never leaves His workmen without divine directions."15 Left to our own devices, we will fail. But if we shut the noise off--career, family, entertaining activities, the church--and let God speak to us, we will achieve our purpose and receive eternal blessings.

We must not let silence pass into legend. The essence of life is God, and anything can become a hindrance in our relationship with Christ. Work, play, and everything in between can drown out this most important part of life. We are all in the same boat. Amidst the storm, we all need to look across the water to Jesus, run to Him, and clasp Him to our hearts. Then we may boldly (and noiselessly) move forward.

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1 http://purposedriven.com/content.aspx?id=4980.
2 Ibid.
3 http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-07-21-rick-warren_x.htm.
4 Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), p. 17.
5 Sermons and talks, vol. 2, pp. 191, 192.
6 Ibid., p. 192.
7 Tim Hansel, When I Relax I Feel Guilty (Elgin, Ill.: David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1979), pp. 84, 85.
8 Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 576.
9 Child Guidance, pp. 74, 75.
10 Matt. 6:24, NIV.
11 The Screwtape Letters (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing, Inc.), p. 90.
12 John 9:4, NKJV.
13 Matt. 6: 25, NIV.
14 The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 483, 484.
15 My Life Today, p. 10.

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Kimberly Luste Maran is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.