I hope this week’s letter finds you and your family abundantly healthy! Before I get to our weekly musing, I wanted to mention something that I think is amazing. Just prior to Christmas, I said I wouldn’t be surprised if people would still be listening to Wholetones Christmas long after the season ended. Well, it’s almost May and the verdict is in … people are still listening to (and purchasing) the Christmas album! Let me tell you, the testimonies are rolling in daily. Thank you for all you do to help me get the word out. It is definitely working.
If you are familiar with my book, Wholetones: The Sound Of Healing, then you understand two terms perfectly—signal and noise. A signal is a frequency that is transmitted or received, while noise consists of fluctuations that tend to obscure the signal. If you are anything like me, you have undoubtedly been detecting an abundance of noise everywhere you turn. Whether it’s politics, ethics, semantics, heretics, clerics, or good ole’ lunatics, there is a stifling level of noise and very little signal. To visualize this, try thinking of noise as pollution. If you live in a big city with busy factories, you may have experienced air pollution that makes it difficult to breathe, but is a byproduct of producing the goods that people want and need. When there is no wind and the pollution hangs over a metropolitan area like a cloud (a pollution “inversion”), people can become physically overwhelmed. A similar effect can occur when noise pollution abounds. Election years are notorious for noise pollution due to lies, mudslinging, and tired rhetoric. An unhealthy level of useless words (negative frequencies) and cultural chaos is spewed into the atmosphere (and social media) daily. Frequencies compete for airspace; so with that in mind, where can we go to escape the onslaught?
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
How we respond to the current barrage of fear, unrest, and negative noise around us will determine how we can remain at peace when others only experience chaos. It has been said that there is a peace afforded for all men, yet few will enter into it. Today, I am challenging you to be a part of the few!As much as I desire to change the world, first I have to change myself. It’s the first step to modeling a better life.
One of the ways we can escape noise pollution is by not creating it ourselves! If you find yourself getting angry, frustrated, or hopeless after spending time on social media, take a break from it. Shut down your computer or media device and find your peace again. Wholetones is a great escape. Turn on 396hz (The Open Door), take a walk or sit in a comfy chair, close your eyes for 22:22, and take a deep breath! Slow things down for 30 minutes and refocus on the things in life that REALLY matter … God, family, and close friends. Take time to dream, use your imagination, spend time outside, and talk face to face (Facetime does not count :)) with your neighbors and friends. Remember when you were young? Life was probably a lot different. You didn’t live by a clock tick or a sound bite, text message, or Facebook update … you just lived your life as it unfolded. Constant technology-driven interruptions that scream for your attention create noise that in turn leads to stress.
In fact, noise pollution is a root cause of chronic stress, and stress is the number one cause of sickness and death in America. We were not designed to live our lives being manipulated by virtual “friends” in chat rooms, letting the news media rent space in our brains, or allowing the government to dictate what public restrooms we use! Take charge of your life by deciding what YOU allow into it, and take charge of your mind by thinking for yourself. Here is a scripture that frames Lillian’s (my wife) and my life:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
If you will do this, you won’t have room in your mind for anything else, making yourself impervious to the negative din of cultural noise pollution. So breathe deep … peace is intoxicating!
God Bless You,
Michael S. Tyrrell
