Drawn, not dragged

Part II: The feed and the heart — making room for Holy silence

We live in a world that seems afraid of silence.
At almost any moment, we can reach into a pocket and enter an endless stream of headlines, opinions, arguments, advertisements,
outrage, amusement, and distraction. The modern “feed” is never finished.
There is always one more notification, one more video, one more crisis, one more thing demanding our attention.
Phones are not evil. Computers are not evil. These are tools.
But tools can begin to rule us.
The danger is not simply that we are busy. The danger is that we may lose the ability to be still.

When the mind is constantly interrupted, the heart becomes scattered.
We may find ourselves unable to sit quietly with our own thoughts, let alone quietly before God.
We may begin the day with a screen, end the day with a screen, and fill every empty moment in between with noise.
Then, when we finally try to pray, the latest argument, headline, image, worry, or advertisement continues to echo through the mind like static on a radio.
Holy Scripture does not tell us that God is absent from the noise of this age- God is present everywhere.
But Scripture does show us that we need stillness to hear Him.

When Elijah fled into the wilderness, he encountered wind, earthquake, and fire.
Yet the Lord was not revealed to him in these mighty disturbances.
After them came a deep hush, and there Elijah encountered God (1 Kings 19:11–13).
Jesus Himself repeatedly withdrew to pray.
He told His disciples to enter their room, close the door, and pray to the Father in secret (Matthew 6:6).
The Church Fathers (the Great Saints) called this inner stillness hesychia.

Hesychia is more than a quiet room.
Hesychia is the slow healing of a heart that has become divided and distracted.
And, is learning not to chase every thought, every fear, every irritation, every accusation, every passing image.
St. Isaac the Syrian called silence “the mystery of the age to come.”
That does not mean the Church are called to become gloomy, unsociable, or unable to enjoy this age
It means that silence is not emptiness.
Silence can become meeting in communion with God.
In silence, we begin to notice what has been ruling us.
We notice the anger we have been carrying. We notice the fears we have been avoiding. We notice the grief beneath the busyness.
We notice how often we have sought distraction instead of bringing our real heart before God.
That can feel uncomfortable at first.

But this is not a reason to flee from silence. It is often a sign that silence is beginning to tell the truth.
The practice of digital restraint is not a trendy “tech detox.”
It is not about proving that we are morally superior because we do not use social media, watch the news, or own a smartphone.
It is about guarding the doorway of the heart.
We do not leave the front door of our home standing open so that every stranger may wander in at will.
Yet many of us leave the doors of the eye of the soul and out mind set open all day long, allowing every outrage, fear, opinion, and distraction to march through.
No wonder we feel exhausted!

Perhaps a small beginning is enough.
Do not reach for the phone before prayer in the morning. Give the first fifteen minutes of the day to God.
Start with one minute and work towards five minutes to start with!
Turn off the screen during one meal.
Leave the phone outside the bedroom.
Take a short walk without headphones.
Sit quietly for five minutes with a Psalm open before you.
These are not heroic achievements..but they are small acts of freedom.

Christ does not drag us out of the noise. He does not wrench the phone from our hands.
He stands in the quiet and calls us. He invites us to make room for Him.
And when we begin to give Him our undivided attention—even for a few moments—the static begins to fade.
The soul begins to breathe.
The heart begins to remember that it was made not merely for information, stimulation, and distraction, but for communion.

Questions for Reflection
Who or what is first in my day, and last before sleep: a screen, or Christ?
Where could I create one small sanctuary of silence this week?

A Short Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, You withdrew to solitary places to pray.
Deliver us from the tyranny of endless noise.
Calm the storms of distraction within us.
Teach us to guard the doorway of our hearts and to make room for Your gentle presence.
Give us the grace to love silence, not as an escape from the world, but as a place where we may hear You drawing us home. Amen.

Fr. Ray Dobson © 2026