Inundation can be defined as flooded or overwhelmed by a great volume of something.
In our contemporary society we are increasingly inundated by the sheer volume of options and choices that are available to us and the sheer volume of information that we are challenged to digest and respond to.
I remember, as a kid, that New York City radio station WINS used to tout, “Give us ten minutes and we’ll give you the world.” (referring, that is, to the latest news). They prided themselves on digesting all the significant daily news into a few minutes, which were repeated hourly all day long.
Now, we have television stations that spend all day long giving us the daily news. WINS’s problem was digesting the news into ten minutes; the problem that modern television news station have is how to find enough news or how to spin out the news long enough to fill out the entire day!
The more is definitely not the merrier!
This is just one way that our contemporary society overwhelms us, overwhelms us by giving us too much information or by not allowing us to have time to digest and reflect upon the information we already have.
Another common example: the shopping mall. In the old days, you simply went to the nearby store to quickly purchase something; now you go to a huge complex, often very beautiful, highlighting and selling almost anything imaginable. You never have enough money to buy all the things that inevitably capture your attention and attract you.
How about eating? entertainment? movies? ballgames? fashionable styles?
There are so many things overwhelming us, inundating us, every day of our modern lives—and, you know what it does? It’s like the indigestion that comes from eating too much and too fast.
We become not only sated but satiated. We are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of our daily experiences—and as a result we’re learning less, profiting less, and fatigued and enervated.
The same thing applies to the spiritual aspect of our lives: too many books that are recommended to us, too many sermons and advices that we hear, too many models and behaviors that we are urged to imitate or to condemn!
Do you recall or did you ever hear the Latin expression, “Quid ad aeternitatem?” It more or less means, “What does it matter in the light of eternity?”
We rarely, if ever, ask ourselves a question like that. We rarely, if ever, get off the endless merry-go-round of our lives. You know what happens after a while? We forget how to get off! As the merry-go-round ride is non-stop, the so many courses in the daily meal of our lives are killing us! We’re hearing and seeing so many things that we’re becoming deaf and blind!
Is there any hope for the future? Of course!
What to do, how to do it? It’s easy!
Stop!
Stop the rat race! Stop the merry-go-round! Stop trying to keep up with it all! Stop trying to digest it all!
Don’t forget the great wisdom you probably learned once upon a time, a question and answer from the catechism:
Q. “Why did God make you?”
A. “He made to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and be happy with Him forever in the next.”
Take it easy! No hurry! You have forever!
21 May 2023