“The Sacredness of Boredom”
He (God) says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 42:10)
I’ve noticed a trend among young people, possibly connected to their parents. Entertainment has become the new norm. That is, young people expect to be entertained…anytime they’re awake. I’ve even noticed it in school. There are more and more game apps that entertain while trying to educate.
Being bored is considered taboo. It’s like telling a seventh-grader to sit down and write an essay on the history of dangling participles. Gagging might be the reaction. Boredom is frowned upon. Attention spans are shorter, resulting in a constantly shifting set of what keeps a person’s interest. Reading is too slow for many people (as well as for some slow readers). It doesn’t keep their attention because it demands focus for longer periods of time. When I was teaching 8th grade back in the fall, Fridays in Language Arts were Book Club day. Each student was part of a group reading a specific novel. What a struggle it was to keep many of them engaged in the novel.
Perhaps that is one reason James Patterson’s novels are so popular. Each chapter is about two to three pages long.
Reading scripture is even more challenging. There are no moving parts, no visual graphics. It is the story of God read to inspire and reveal, not to entertain.
Which brings us back to boredom. Being bored is a walk into sacred moments. If Jesus’s purpose centered on entertainment, the forty days in the wilderness would have been, as kids would say, “torture.” In essence, it was preparation and confirmation—preparation for what was ahead and confirmation of who he was. The silence of the wilderness allowed him to hear his Father’s voice and do battle with the voice of the Deceiver.
Our culture places a premium on being overextended. Parents run their kids between half a dozen different activities (clubs, teams, practices, and groups). An indication is to look at a family’s monthly calendar and ask the question, “When in the coming month will this family be allowed to be bored? Where in the coming month will they intentionally plan to rest away from social media, video games, and appointments?”
The extension of that might be, when will God be able to get a word in edgewise? If he is nudging us in a certain way, when will we be still enough to hear?
I’ll always remember a two-day retreat a group of pastors had at the convent of the Benedictine Sisters. We had two vesper services with the Sisters each day. During the course of a month, the Sisters prayed through the Psalms twice. The rhythm of their community was evident. It was not busyness that made them drowsy, but rather quiet moments of meditation, prayer, and listening.
How strange to be in that setting, to quiet our hyperactive lives, and discover something deeper and sweeter; something refreshing and renewing that didn’t require a monthly subscription.
Words from WW Blog 