Monday, September 29, 2025
Your quick Kingdom B12 dose to energize your Faith Quest this week! Look for the long-form Smart Edit in your inbox this Thursday!
Today — Noise degrades just about everything. Some extra notes at the every end if you want to dive deeper.
Tuning In
Dialing down the static to hear what really matters.
Noise has a way of skewing what’s real.
In our walk with Christ, his Word is clear, his Spirit is faithful … yet our own mental and heart clutter can make it hard to receive the signal.
Distractions are slowing us down and stealing from our lives.
Clarity is a high value with the Creator.
The same happens in relationships. John Gottman, is a leading voice on marriage. He says that when negativity builds up, even ordinary words get “overridden” and heard as criticism. Noise skews.
This applies to friendships and working relationships too.
A fix is simple: dial down the static. It takes discipline. Make room for stillness, prayer, meditation and journaling, and time that listens well.
As we filter the noise …
➡ God’s Word lands true.
➡ And relational voices come through more clearly.
“Whoever has ears, let them hear.” — Matthew 11.15
SEPT 28 – OCT 4, 2025 — Lord, clear and refresh my inner person. Help me to hear what’s important.
Want to dive deeper about this related to Kingdom Living, marriage and relationships, and communication — see notes below. 👇
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Brian
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Dive Deeper
In psychology and communication theory:
Signal vs. noise is a classic metaphor.
Signal = the meaningful content (truth, intention, connection).
Noise = interference that disrupts clarity (distraction, stress, competing thoughts).
In cognitive psychology, “noise” can mean mental clutter — intrusive thoughts, emotional reactivity, or overstimulation that reduces focus and clarity.
Applied to Kingdom Living:
Scripture reading or prayer can be “noisy” when our mind is racing, divided, or when external distractions intrude. We may still do the practice, but the signal (God’s voice, spiritual insight) gets diluted.
Contemplative traditions often emphasize silencing the noise (stillness, focus, fasting from distractions) so the “signal” of God’s communication comes through more clearly.
In marriage and relationships:
Couples therapists talk about “static” or “interference.” This could be stress from work, unresolved resentment, or even digital distractions. The partner’s message (signal) is present … but the other person hears it through a haze of noise.
In relationships, psychologists often describe communication noise — background stress, internal preoccupations, assumptions, or even environmental factors that twist what’s being said or heard.
Gottman’s research on relationships touches this indirectly. “Negative sentiment override” is when emotional noise distorts even neutral or kind statements into something critical.