Can You Hear Me Now?

What can you hear right this minute? Are there people talking or the TV on? Do you hear the street noise of traffic, the barking of a dog? The mechanical hum of equipment? I ask because there seems to be noise of some sort around us all the time. Some we listen to, others we tend to ignore.

My office is in the back part of our house. Our dogs are still in their kennels, which are draped with a sheet and blanket to capture the body heat of the four for community warmth, at the far front end of the house. Unless they get rowdy, I can’t hear them. I can’t hear them but I can hear the small metallic ‘klink’ sound that Chelsie makes when she pulls on the door of her kennel…it’s the signal she needs to get out. My ears are tuned in listening for that sound.

On the other hand, I have a shrill loud ringing in my right ear that has plagued me for at least 30 years. It is a part of my daily/nightly life. It never goes away or grows quieter or even changes tone for variety. I have a hearing loss in that ear and ”They” say it is a fact of my life as a result of that hearing loss. Seems rather ridiculous that a hearing loss makes a loud constant sound, doesn’t it? There are times when it’s worse than others, like now for instance. I have regular sinus issues and the pressure on my inner ear amplifies the sound. I need to run a fan every night for the white noise; it’s less offensive than the ringing. I’ve had to train my mind to try to tune out that ringing to be able to function when I work. It’s still there and I can always hear it but I have to mentally force it to the background….that, or lose my mind.

There’s a Sunday school song that says in part, “Be careful little ears what you hear, for the Father’s up above and He’s looking down with love, so be careful little ears what you hear.” There is much wisdom in that song. The language, music, people we listen to contribute to what goes in our minds and hearts via our ‘little ears’. Some argue that music with crude language doesn’t really affect them. They are deceiving themselves. While they may not pay attention to it consciously, like the ringing in my ears, it’s still there! 

The Holy Spirit speaks to us internally. God speaks to us through that small quiet voice. We have to train ourselves to listen for it, tune in to it with a sense of expectancy. When the chaos of the world screams daily for our attention, we must focus on listening for the valuable, important things. It’s the beneficial form of ‘selective hearing’ and completely unlike the version where your kids or spouse claim temporary deafness when you call. 

Regardless of the noise of life surrounding us, my prayer is that we purpose to listen for the ‘klink’ and push the ringing far back so we can focus on hearing the voice of God.