Sociologists – strange folks in their own right – like to spend enormous amounts of time with individuals and groups or tribes in order to attempt to understand why people do what they do. With my limited but personally trustworthy opinion, folks do what they do because that's the way they were raised, generation after generation. When someone in their tribe or family become an exception, he or she is deemed "touched in the head" and shunned or becomes an outcast. 

Let's face it. It is a whole lot more comfortable to fit in than to be kicked out. I think I shared this story with you, but allow me to share it again. I was being interviewed for a church in Mississippi and after an hour or so of pretty basic questions was asked, "How do you like Elvis?"

Earlier, I'd been driven around the town and shown billboards of him surrounded by adoring fans and even a statue downtown in front of a theater. I should've known better, but I answered, "I like Doo wop." I was on the plane home 15 minutes later. I digress.

Bernard McGrane of Chapman University in California believes he is on to something. He asks his students to watch television – so far so good – but without the sound. Try watching a bunch of commercials sans sound. Most students wrote, "What a waste of time!" He showed horror movies, top-notch athletic events and even shows with subtitles without any student interest.

He switched on the sound and students were riveted to the screen.

Professor McGrane gathered from his data that it is not so much the pictures that entertain, but the total package of sight and sound that dazzles the brain and captures the senses. His students had been raised in an environment that captured the emotions in ways much of our older generation can't fathom.

As an example, this is why the written word – which my generation grew up with – has lost its ability to hold the new generation's attention. Think about it! When I read, I can see the characters, smell the musty odor in a gothic setting, feel the heat or cold and even recognize the surroundings if the writer is clever and experienced. When I attend a lecture, the words can paint pictures, teach, create, and motivate me. However, if students have been raised in an environment exploding with sight, sound, entertainment, all created to overwhelm the viewers, then reality can be suspended, imagination is side-lined and personal involvement is reduced to not much more than passive interpretation.

Hang in there, Bunky. Listen to a big-time political speech given by a personality that is bigger than life. What do the crowds say?

"Boy, was that fun! Wow! I'll vote for him/her!" And we might ask, "What did he/she say?" Answer, "I don't remember, but it was two hours of excitement!"

Here's the lesson. Remember Mark 1:35 when Jesus was praying and Simon Peter and some others came looking for Him. "Everyone is looking for You." 

While the Scripture is not clear, I believe and rightly guess, that Jesus had been healing the possessed and diseased. My feeling is that the crowd wanted more of the same. The disciples appreciated the prayers of Jesus, but also knew that what Jesus had been doing was building His reputation. They had not yet understood His whole purpose, but He sure was a fantastic healer! Christ's answer, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there, for that is why I came out."

Yes, He most certainly was the Healer and the Teacher, but He was, above all else, the Word! Please set this aside for a moment and read from I Kings 19. Elijah experienced the strong winds, a great earthquake, a devastating fire. Was not God speaking in this show of power? Perhaps. Then something remarkable happened. There was the still small voice of God.

I wonder if our world is not so overwhelmed with the constant input and stream of electronic stimulation that we can't see or hear God's still small voice and only pay attention when visual and audio are so strong they knock us flat.

Turn off the sound. Sit quietly. Listen. What is it that I am waiting for?

There it is. It is the still small voice of God.

Thanks, God!