loud

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It Will Catch Up To You At Some Point

I’m beginning to think that things I didn’t pay attention to in my youth are beginning to catch up to me.

It will catch up to you at some point

There are things you do or expose yourself to when you are young that you think nothing of. Later those things may prove to be a hindrance to you. 

I noticed one of those things the other weekend. It never bothered me when I was young, but now it does.

When I was in my teens and twenties I listened to a lot of music – loud music. If I could turn the stereo up past “10”, I would. 

I went to concerts in Toronto at Maple Gardens, Massey Hall and Exhibition Stadium and they were loud. My young ears soaked up the noise at that time, no problem. 

I even went to a concert at Exhibition Stadium once where we sat halfway back from the stage and I still had ringing in my ears for two days after the concert. Of course, my young ears sucked it up and I could hear fine a few days later. 

However, scrolling ahead some 35 years or more, I don’t handle loud noises like I used to. 

This past weekend I realized that when there are loud, competing noises, I have a hard time hearing what the person next to me is saying. 

I went to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ final game of the season with my son, Mike. Man, was it ever loud!

There was a women sitting next to me with a high-pitched voice. She was from PEI and had two kids. She was very friendly and throughout the game kept peppering me with questions about where I lived and my family. 

Definitely not a Torontonian.

But her high voice and the mask she was wearing made it almost impossible to hear her over the deafening noice from the arena sound system.

There was a song recorded several years ago by a group named, “The Pursuit of Happiness”. The song was about a rock singer getting older and finding it hard to make the adjustments to his aging. One line in the song says, “I can’t take too much loud music; I mean I like to play it, but I sure don’t like the racket.”

That’s how I feel. I like it all but I just can’t hear very well with all the competing noise around me. 

The lady beside me took her mask off at the end of the game to say some things to me. I thought I would be able to hear her better without her mask. However, the four drinks she had somehow turn the pitch of her voice up a couple of octaves. Add to that her slurred speech and I couldn’t make out anything she said.

Mike had to interpret for me. I just smiled and nodded.

Here’s the thing: There are so many loud voices out there. And with all the various mediums to hear those voices – TV, movies, social media – it can become very loud. Hey, even our own voice is often too loud. It’s easy with all that noise to become insensitive to what God might be saying to you … or you might just have a hard time hearing Him at all. It’s important to discover ways to hear God above the noise. The Bible, prayer, sermons, Christian music can all help interpret what God might be speaking to you. Listen carefully.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has your hearing been lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

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A Community Schedule Is A Great Idea

We should collectively schedule things as a community. … That might sound a little controlling, but I think it would give us more peace in the long run.

a community schedule is a great idea

I’m certainly not advocating having to do everything at the same time as everyone else in the community. I just have one thing in mind. 

We are already sort of scheduled in our city as to when we can use our washing machines at home. The city charges us more money for using electricity and water at certain times of the day. They basically want everyone to do their washing in the evening or early mornings.  

It’s not a forced thing, but you pay more if you don’t bend to the community’s wishes.

At times the city has also issued a watering ban for households. We can only water our grass on even or odd numbered days, depending on our house numbers.

Therefore, we basically have a precedent for getting everybody on the same schedule. 

I’m thinking it would be nice to get everyone on the same grass mowing schedule.

It wouldn’t be necessary if everyone had an electric lawnmower, but with so many gas grass cutters, it would really help. 

At my cottage we are in a community and, though the properties are small, there are a lot of them. There is no mistaking the sound when someone pulls out their Briggs and Stratton and pulls the chord. 

The guy that designed the mufflers for lawnmowers must have once worked for Harley Davidson. Every gas lawnmower sounds like a 750 cc roadster! If you close your eyes you can picture the guys from the movie, “Easy Rider”, cruising down the highway.

A lawn doesn’t take that much time to cut. But what’s bad about it is that somehow the noise gives other people the idea that it’s time to cut their lawn too. 

They don’t get out there together at the same time. Instead, it’s more like a chain reaction. When one lawnmower stops, another one starts right up. 

You can hear the sound of lawnmowers for an hour or more. 

Especially when I’m at the cottage, I want peace and quiet. 

I want to hear the sounds of birds chirping, crickets cricketing, and paint drying. – Yes, I want that sound over the sound of some four stroke engine, winding up to top speed. 

And then there’s the guy who made the mistake of putting his weed eater gas into his lawnmower tank. That oil and gas mixture makes a lawnmower sound like a sixteen year old with an old car, trying to impress the girls by continually revving his engine. 

So if we could schedule everyone to get out there and cut their grass on Saturdays at, say, 11 am, well, that would be just great. 

We could all wear ear plugs or put in head phones and listen to music. 

… And I would have some peace the rest of the day.

Here’s the thing: There is a lot of sound in our world. All that noise will drown out hearing what God might want to say to you. Take time in the peaceful part of the day to read and listen to God for His guidance, encouragement and even His correction. God likes it when the sounds of other things are quieted in us. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When is the peaceful time of your day? Leave your comments and questions below.

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