The Phenomenology of Prayer Blog 1

I have always hated my introverted-ness and naturally quiet nature of my personality. Growing up, I was always more of the listener of the group and not the one that wanted be at the center of attention. In the book, The Phenomenology of Prayer, the author writes, "We cannot listen very well to the voice of God if we are chattering ourselves or even if we merely keep ourselves surrounded by noise, almost as a barrier to protect us from hearing the voice of any other." In the aspect of situations as those, I agree with this quote. Always waiting for others to talk, or just putting ourselves in constant social situations never allows us to listen to ourselves. I don't think that the "God" part of the novel is always correct because not everyone is of the same religion. Though, I would agree that it is important to listen to one's internal conscience, which cannot be heard when constantly in loud situations or with peer pressure. Although, there are situations when being surrounded be noise can help to hear one's internal voice. I, for example, listen to music everyday because it helps me concentrate better or calm down if I am having a bad day. Without being relaxed by music, there would be no way that I would be able to concentrate enough to listen to others, much less my inner voice. So, sometimes being surrounded by noise sometimes makes it easier to hear voices of others or one's self.