Enjoy the Silence

I read a story from one of my Pasterd's Pub acquaintances about his kid's experience at church camp. A group of them bonded over a bug they named Jeff that met with an untimely death. Brandon (the author) spoke about the experience as being valuable for building community and empathy. He mentioned how important it is to get away from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram and get back into nature and meaningful conversations.

I replied to his post saying that I think churches are to blame for this lack. We live in a world of overconsumption. Everything needs to happen now and dialed to 11. Our entertainment, our food, even our politics. There is no shared sacred space for quiet contemplation. It ought to be churches, but it's not. Churches are essentially small businesses selling a different product, but I digress.

It seems to me that what America needs is a lesson in how to mellow out. Get away from the hustle and bustle of work and the doom scrolling of online content and just experience the present moment. To learn how to quiet the mind so peace can be felt. What's the next step to do that? I have no idea. Clergy holds the keys to the kingdom, as it were, and until they change, nothing else in the institution will.

Right now, it's up to us individually to find and foster our own silence.

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