The Clamor of Worldly Chatter



When I think about communication and the importance of its delivery and reception, it is dependent upon how a person receives what is being said that determines the interpretation of its content.  The perception is most important in how the message comes across; though presentation goes hand-in-hand with insight.

When I was a youngster growing up in the hippie movement, much emphasis was placed on the ‘communication gap’, because of the challenges facing families at that time.  It was the topic of Christian circles everywhere.  The inability of children and parents; husbands and wives; clergy and church laity to understand one another was the core, fundamental reason for seminars, sermons, and professional counseling sessions.

It seemed like everyone had an answer in their little, black bag to the quandary of better communication and how it should be accomplished.  Communication, or the lack thereof, has not improved through the years.  It has only gotten worse, now decades later.   

In my opinion, the problems facing families when I was a teenager do not compare with the troubles confronting communication skills today.  With the advanced innovation of personal computers and the ability to text on telephones (that most everyone carries), and many other electronic devices that are flooding the market today, it is no wonder that the clamor of worldly chatter is becoming a conglomeration of noise; the chitchat of misunderstandings and miscommunication, because of the vernacular and lingo being used.

True communication skills are a lost art with most children, because of video games, far-reaching types of music being played through ear buds, and the hundreds of text messages exchanged each day with family and friends, to name a few—an endless barrage of mind numbing chatter.  I call it, ‘white noise’.  “A sound containing a blend of all the audible frequencies distributed equally over the range of the frequency band,” according to Webster’s New World Dictionary.

No longer is it necessary to use words or complete sentences.  Abbreviations and codes are used to communicate, which encapsulate the realm and subject matter of white noise.

Communication at home is becoming a thing of the past, because of electronic devices.  Surfing the net, for example, steals hours of precious time from family members.  I thought communication was difficult in my day, but it is swiftly disappearing in today’s society as people submerge themselves in a self-imposed environment of recluse living.

Everywhere I look I hear the clamor of worldly chatter that misses the mark of closeness; so desperately needed, yet missing.  I see men and women ignoring their children and each other at restaurants as they search the web on their phones; text messages going and coming; or talking to someone other than those nearest to them.

The word ‘rude’ does not compute with self-centered people with tunnel vision.  It has gotten so bad; their idea of having fun is a text luncheon with friends on the phone rather than spending quality time with family members at the dinner table. 

Building confidence and making one’s spouse and offspring feel important, like they are the most significant people in the world, is not happening.  The lack of it creates unsettled emotions of doubt and misgivings that Satan uses against the family.  He tempts husband and wife to find other interests, while children resist obeying as they ought. 

I see children disobeying their parents like never before.  I believe, in part, it is a direct reflection of the lack of communication in homes between parent and child.  Parental voices become unfamiliar; void of essence and real meaning, because of worldly chatter that takes up most of the parent’s free time.  It is shameful. 

Lack of communication causes calamity to knock at the door of families.  Satan is in the business of destroying relationships.  Time is short.  Taking advantage of the time we have with loved ones; communicating and enjoying what God has blessed us with; wards off Satan’s attempts to divide and conquer.

White noise is invading the workplace.  Giving eight hours work for eight hours pay is becoming a thing of the past, because of the upswing of talking on phones and sending text messages on company time.  Instead of working, employees are playing. 

What happened to dedication, integrity, and faithful employees that were once committed to honorable behavior; having dependable character?  Failure to train children in the home about self-worth as being viable and important is perhaps the reason.  It is essential, yet lacking and ignored.  The clamor of worldly chatter is to blame in part, because noble attributes are lost in the wake of non-reactive; non-responsive listening.

Clamor is also filtering into neighborhood churches.  When the pastor is trying to deliver his message, inevitably, phones sound out without fail throughout the congregation.

My goodness, people are becoming more and more disrespectful and rude every day; having little regard for the feelings of others, even in church.  No wonder communication lacks substance.  It has become white noise—sounding brass or a clanging cymbal; having little value with no-one really hearing what is being said.  The person talking is usually the one listening to their own rhetoric.

Everywhere you look, young people are going off the deep end; turning to drugs and alcohol to numb the longing to belong; created by an unfruitful existence.  Some are killing themselves, because they lack hope.  No-one is listening to their cry for help.  They need someone to hear and care about the inner struggles they are having, but everyone is too busy talking and not listening.

The clamor of worldly chatter is taking its toll in the lives of our youth.  In all walks of life, from the poorest of families to the affluent; optimism is fading.  We cannot place a thermometer, as it were, on those of less fortune and expect it to read higher than those of the prosperous.  All classes of young people are burning up with the fever of hopelessness.  They feel alone and helpless. 

Loneliness knows no degree of material comfort when the intensity of a hurting soul goes unheard.  No matter what a person’s status in life may be, when the devil stirs the pot of unhappiness, the scale of things missing in their life is only intensified and the void more pronounced.

Christians must stop and listen, lest they miss opportunities to share the Lord with those that are looking for peace and someone to care.  Souls are desperate for anyone to hear their cry for help.  It is our duty to present Jesus to the weary hearted that have lost their way; destitute and afraid.  They need to know that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and He alone makes the difference. 

We must assure those that are lonely, without hope, that there is One who cares and hears their cry.  Christians have an obligation to tell them that God listens and then manifests His Spirit according to their degree of need, because Jesus died on the cross to afford them the freedom of son ship.  They need not suffer the pangs that unbelief and sin bring.  Christ is the answer to all of their requests—He hears the heartbeat of their suffering.  For this reason, God gave His Son for all mankind.

(Matthew 7:7-8), “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  vs.8  “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

(Colossians 4:6), “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

(Ephesians 4:29), “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

 

Written by,

Papa Boyd