I'm really good at leaving my car headlights on. I have emptied my battery this way on many occasions. But it's not all my fault. Most of the time when it happens, the little trigger that makes the dinging noise gets stuck, so I don't hear anything reminding me to turn the lights off.
I went about three days without needing to drive my car, so I was fully unaware that the battery had been drained. Fortunately, my gracious father hooked it up to a charger and in a few hours, it was ready to get back on the road. So on the road I went and what did I find out? My stereo system was no longer was working!
I never listen to the radio. I don't even know how to tune it manually, I'm only capable of scanning. So this not being able to play CD's thing was quite the dilemma. And even if I wanted to use the radio, it wasn't working either. I thought maybe it was because it was so cold outside, but nope. It's been almost a week and it's still not working. I have yet to inform my dad about this and I don't really want to. Not that I'd be afraid of his reaction, but I just don't want to bother him about it when he's got a lot of other things to take care of. Because God knows that I'm not going to be able to fix it. So here's the real dilemma:
I'm currently planning on taking an eight or nine day road trip starting the day after Christmas, with a few stops for friends, a camp New Year's reunion and ending with my sister's wedding. My first destination is Warren, PA - 6 1/2 hours away! That's a long time, an extremely long time, to go without music. Rarely do I go without listening to anything in my car. I turn my car on, and the music starts playing. It's not like I have to turn it on, so why turn it off? On a couple occasions (such as the drive home after an amazing summer at camp) I have turned it off to take some time in prayer and to soak in all I had just been through. But this is only for about 30 minutes. Six and a half hours is different.
But here's the funny thing. In the week I've been without any noise in my car, besides me talking to myself (you know you do it to), I haven't really noticed the lack of music. I can't say that it's been a miserable experience. I've only gone about 5 miles at a time, but when I get o where I'm going, I don't even realize that the music hasn't been playing.
This makes me realize how little time I spend in silence (I think you can say the same for yourself). And I'm a big believer that it's important to spend some time in silence. I like to use that silence to reflect and be in prayer. When I think about a typical day, the only time when there is silence is probably once my roommate and I have fallen asleep - so not until about 2 a.m. And then at 8:30 the noise starts up all over again. I need to take some more time in silence. I need to create it if it's not there. If I'm just sitting in my room doing homework and I have music playing or the TV on, turn it off. Take a few minutes to reflect and just relish the silence. It's something we all need a little more of.
So, for this trip - Music or no music? That is the question.
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