Noise Addiction, A New Study

The Kaiser Family Foundation published its recent study (as reported by the New York Times) of the number of hours per day the average young person in America spends on-line, tuned-in, in touch, plugged-in, updated, multitasking, surfing, up-loading, down-loading, blogging, FaceBooking, Twittering, etc. (candy for the ears and eyes; it doen't count texting). Now--seven and one-half (7 1/2) hours a day compared to six and a half hours five years ago. That's practically "every waking hour (except for school). The title of the article is "Children Awake? Then They're Probably Online."
I'm reminded of a lecture by Barbara Brown Taylor (The Lyman Beecher Lectures, 1994) who highlights the importance and natural need of silence in our lives. Two quotes, "Most people are so used to wading through the noise that they do not even notice how deep it has gotten." And, "How can we commend it (silence) to our young people "for whom noise is as addictive as any drug." (Published: When God is Silent, Cloister Books, 1998)
Is this making a difference in our culture? To quote the article, "Many experts believe that media use is changing youthful attitudes." (Read the article, New York Times, January 20, 2010.) WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE AND WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Books: Read any lately, share them with me.

The Shack, Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity, William Paul Young, Newbury Park, California. 2007
A little far out for my imagination in depicting God as so colloquial. When God has meaning, presence, and we think we understand completely, God is probably not comprehended; we have a projection of our God on a small screen.
Also the difficult question of theodicy still has not been answered to satisfaction. This was another attempt which falls short as history has proven the question to be so difficult.
We live by faith, not by sight.

Sexual Liberation (The Scandal of Christendom), Raymond J. Lawrence, Praeger, Westport, Connecticut. 2007
Here is a book with strong research, accurate historical record, top-notch interpretation of history and a great since of humor. Raymond Lawrence has done Christians a favor getting us to think about sex differently and maybe we can begin to experience it more realistically. I have heard a long time that the difficulty with our world is not too much sex... but not enough--not enough caring, compassionate, sincere, passionate, gut-wrenching, earth shaking sex between two persons who deeply love and respect each other. That kind of love making tends to create a lasting, committed relationship.