Every once in a while when I’m too stressed or too homesick to sleep, I wait till all my housemates have gone to bed and walk out to the living room with my iPod, sit down and listen to an album straight through. It doesn’t matter which album it is. Some nights it’s worship or classical. A few months ago, it was Keane’s Under the Iron Sea album. Tonight, it’ll be the Cold War Kids’  new Mine Is Yours. The album changes, but the atmosphere doesn’t. I never turn on a single light in the room and I never do anything more than sip a cup of tea. Maybe sitting in a dark room and brooding over a cup of tea and a few tunes makes me a creeper, but the fact is I don’t really care. I just know that such an activity, or lack thereof, helps me settle my soul.

You see, I’m an introvert, which is psychological jargon than means I prefer my own company over hanging out in a screaming crowd. It doesn’t mean I don’t like people; it means I’m most comfortable alone. And in my life, those solitary moments are hard to come by. The average schedule for a student at my school is so packed he needs two weeks notice to schedule a 30-minute meeting over a cup of coffee. I’ve had a millionaire businessman tell me that my schedule was too busy. So, finding an hour to sneak into my living room and enjoy some music without having to worry about interruptions or schedules or due dates is almost miraculous. But tonight, I’m making the time for it.

There are so many things I enjoy about living in the technological world we have today – cars to drive when it’s freezing cold outside, telephones to stay in touch with my family a thousand miles away, and of course, iPods to satisfy my often schizophrenic auditory appetites on demand. But I often wonder how much more peaceful life might be if we didn’t have those things. Without computers, my professors couldn’t email me new assignments on a whim. Without electricity, it wouldn’t be feasible for me to keep enough candles handy to pull an all-nighter before a big test. Without miter saws, my best friend might not have taken that huge chunk of flesh out of his thumb.

Now, I’m not some crazed environmentalist seeking the abolition of technology for a renaissance of agrarian micro-communities. I’m just noting that most of the things we expect to make our lives easier only make them more complex. And sometimes I’m just grateful for the simplicity of a dark room and a little music.

I have no profound point for this post. There is no philosophical argument here. But may I suggest that you take some time to step away from all the to-do lists and TV shows to enjoy the fact that God has given you a life with which you have the opportunity to learn the simple beauty of rest?

– Selah.