The other day I read a news item that made me surprisingly sad. It was about the mysterious phenomenon of beached dolphins, porpoises, and whales. We have all seen pictures of pods of beached cetaceans, usually surrounded by humans who are earnestly sloshing water over them and attempting to return them to the sea. Often when the rescuers achieve this the creatures simply beach themselves again and perish.
The latest research suggests that these mammals are deaf, and for them hearing is as important as sight. It may be old age, or disease, or the effects of the growing din in our oceans and seas. Military testing, as well as gas and oil exploration create intolerable noise levels for many creatures and these intelligent beasts may lose their hearing as a result.
If this latter source is the cause then this is a terrible result of our human ability to create a racket everywhere. We're told that songbirds in urban areas are singing themselves hoarse in an attempt to make themselves heard. Now not even the oceans are refuge for living things.
And what does this say about the world we live in? Are we making so much noise that we can't "hear ourselves think?" Some people claim they can't sleep well when urban noise isn't present. I'm the opposite, feeling that I am restored by quiet. Is it more difficult to be attuned to God when we are addicted or numbed by the racket of daily living?
What is your reaction to the beached dolphin story? Do you think we are "noising" ourselves silly? Would God appreciate a little more air-time?
6 comments:
I was recently working at an isolated First Nation community for several days, and really appreciated the peace and quiet. When I came back to Bowmanville, as I walked home from work and approached the intersection of Baseline Rd and Hwy 57, I was shocked at the amount of traffic and noise. My quiet little town of years ago is no more!
I find myself seeking quiet all the time, and discover it is not so easy.
That is sad about these creatures beaching themselves, and if the cause is from humans, then we need to do whatever we can to correct it. The sea is their environment and we need to respect that.
That was hard to look at. I don't know why I am mentioning this, but when we had that huge three day power outage a few years ago,one of the worst parts of it for me was the silence. I had no idea how much noise a house running on electricity makes and I felt so completely discombobulated by the silence that I had trouble breathing. I thought I might die from the 'crazies'. It was almost like withdrawal from an addiction. I do like silence, but I have to have control over it. I have to perceive that I can turn the noise back on if it becomes intolerable. I don't know when this happened to me. Before this I had no conception of all of how much noise affected me. I think we don't realize how much we rely on noise, [and silence] and that we are disturbing ALL the important balances of nature.
I remember that time, pupil, and I loved it!
It reminded me of when I was at Queen's in '98, and we experienced the western front of "the Great Ice Storm." My best friend and I camped out in our little house on Earl Street while the rest of our housemates fled back to Toronto.
With classes canceled and much of the city immobilized, I couldn't believe how long the days would stretch, and how eerily peaceful the place was. I've never read, played guitar and enjoyed the company of others more than during that wild time.
Bring on the quiet (just not the ice!)
Thank you. I think silence can be unnerving, in part because we are habituated to noise. It can also be liberating. It always takes me some time to enter into silence, and I always benefit in the long run.
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