Main Street Cinema: Getting Past the Noise

One of the “hidden in plain sight” gems of Main Street U.S.A. is the Main Street Cinema. An Opening Day attraction, the Main Street Cinema shows (in black and white) six animated shorts from the early years of Mickey and the gang while a recorded musical accompaniment plays.

As of now, the six shorts that are playing are:

• Mickey’s Polo Team
• Traffic Troubles
• The Dognapper
• The Moose Hunt
• Steamboat Willie
• Plane Crazy

The Main Street Cinema is a great place to get out of the sun (or rain) and enjoy some classic cartoons. It also contains something that most people aren’t aware of, and it’s here we find our lesson.

Of the six cartoon shorts playing, only one is playing its own soundtrack. All the rest have the musical accompaniment playing throughout the room as their only soundtrack. The one that plays its own? Steamboat Willie.

What makes this interesting and significant to me is that you have to really be paying attention to even notice that. The music playing in the room is good, and it fits the Cinema, but it’s relatively loud. The soundtrack for Steamboat Willie, by comparison, is quiet. You have to be standing right in front of it, and you have to be paying attention to notice it. If you don’t listen for it, you probably will miss it. Only Steamboat Willie has its original soundtrack, but you must listen carefully & filter out the other (good) music & sound to hear it.

There’s a lot of “noise” in the world today, and not all of it is bad. There are some worthwhile movies and TV shows. There are countless good books. Thanks to Live365, Pandora, Spotify, and other services there is almost no limit to the music you can listen to. With iTunes, Podcatcher, and other services there are thousands of podcasts on almost every conceivable subject.

There is a lot to listen to, and a lot of it is encouraging, fun, entertaining, educational, and even valuable. But it’s easy to get caught up in the noise, and when we do, we miss the sound that’s constantly playing in the background and easy to miss.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
     ~ Isa. 30:21, NIV

We make time for our favorite TV show (or shows, the average person age 15+ spends 2.7 hours per day watching TV—that’s 19 hours per week, or 983 hours per year, almost 41 days!), to listen to our podcasts, to go to movies, go to parties, etc. But how much time do we spend listening to God? Reading His Word? Praying? Spending time in natural surroundings and listening to Him speak through His creation?

This isn’t about guilting us into action (or inaction, as the case may be), it’s about helping us to become intentionally aware of our priorities and encouraging us to listen better. His voice is always there, but we miss it through the noise of life, or because what we’re listening for (i.e. the solution to a troubled relationship) isn’t what He’s saying (“Let Me work in your heart and change you.”).

Listen carefully. Filter out the noise—even if it’s “good” noise. His voice is there.

Question: What is one way you can filter out some of the noise in your life and listen for Him? Talk about it in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.