Blog 593 – 04.05.2017
Learning To Listen

I recently saw a television commercial for a hearing aid called Miracle Ear and heard something that was not in the commercial. First, let me say that I heard many years ago that most men who were in the military in times past probably have at least a partial hearing loss because of exposure to loud repetitive noise during rifle training because we did not wear any hearing protection. Since my military experience I have been extra mindful to protect my hearing from further loss by wearing hearing protection anytime I am exposed to loud repetitive noises and I try to remind everyone else to as well. I had a dear older friend when I was in my twenties who had to wear hearing aids in both ears to even have even minimal hearing. And in my thirties I became acquainted with a friend’s young daughter that was born deaf and her heroic spirit learning sign language and lip reading touched my heart. I have no problem with people doing all they can to protect and enhance their sense of hearing and yet when I heard the sales pitch about Miracle Ear I heard my inner voice reminding me that the real miracle of hearing is to hear the One Voice that always speaks clearly and truly to us.

There are so many voices out there competing for our attention but most of them no matter how slick they may sound do not always have our best interest in mind but usually their own interest and to profit from us whether we do or not. The One Voice always has everyone’s best interest in mind and does not need to profit off of us. And that Voice speaks to us through all of our senses and faculties and from all sources. About this time every year, the week before Easter, Palm Sunday, we hear again about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding meekly on a donkey as the crowd laid clothes and palm branches in the road to pave his way. They shouted “Hosanna in the highest to him that cometh in the name of the LORD.” That worried the religious folks of the town and they asked Jesus to tell the crowd to quit shouting and he replied that if the crowd was quiet the very rocks would cry out. The truth will always be told and even shouted from the house tops and all secrets revealed. It is a mistake to think Fox News, MSNBC, the White House, any of the Network News departments, or the Internet are the only reliable sources of truth. The Spirit of Truth is always speaking to our hearts and from our hearts. The trouble is that our real ears (our spiritual ears) are distracted and have become hard of hearing.

One of the great lines is, “Be still and know that I Am God.” Synical folks might ask as Pilate, the Roman Governor asked Jesus, “What is truth?” And I think what he really meant was, “How can anybody really know the truth?” I think the quote at the beginning of this paragraph answers that question but if you happen to like Bible verses I refer you to the verse that is called by some “God’s Telephone Number” though I suppose email address or Twitter feed might be more current. The number is Jeremiah 33.3 and the hash tag reads “#Call unto me and I will answer your and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.” But we have got to keep our eyes open, our minds, our hearts, and especially our ears. Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain. The message is clear, “You are mine and I care infinitely more about you that you could ever know. My aim is true and I alone have the complete unvarnished truth for you.”

Hear anything good lately?

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White