A
few years ago I had to start using a hearing aid. I was told that it would take a few months
for my brain to filter out the background noise. That certainly proved to be very true! At first the birds were deafening. But after a time I hardly noticed them,
unless I deliberately wanted to tune into them.
This
reminded me of my first going to the W. Indies.
There, in the evening, lots of tiny tree frogs, smaller than a finger
nail, would whistle so loudly that I could hardly think. I don’t know whether it was my imagination,
but they seemed to make much more noise after a down-pour of rain. But, as with my hearing aid, after a time my brain-filter
worked so well that I didn’t notice the little frogs singing their hearts out.
But
after I’d returned to England Peter sent me a recording of an evening Mass in
Barbados. Since the recorder lacked a
sound-filter the chorus of frogs drowned out the beautiful singing of the
choir. At least I’m told it was
beautiful, but I must take that on trust, since the frogs didn’t allow me to
hear it!
This
got me thinking about the way the background or surrounding noise in our lives
can easily drown out the voice of the Lord.
It’s not only that today we seem uncomfortable with silence, but life is
so hectic. We don’t have time to stop,
to listen, to notice. As the poet, W.H. Davies wrote, “What is this life so
full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.” In our hectic, noisy rush we can miss so much
that is good and beautiful. Because it
is priceless it is dismissed as worthless –a waste of time.
This can be very
true of God. In the Book of Revelation the risen Lord says,
“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open
the door, I will come
in to you and eat with you, and you with me,”
(Rev.3.20). Jesus wants to enter and
share our lives, but He won’t force Himself up us. So he knocks and waits for us to open up to
Him and let Him in. That word, “listen” is vital. He respects us too much to force Himself upon
us, when He’s not wanted. So He knocks and waits. But if there’s too much
background noise in our lives we won’t even hear His knock and He will remain
outside.
But perhaps,
horror of horrors, that’s what we really want!
We fear that what He has to say will be uncomfortable and
demanding. So we turn up the volume,
smother the sound of His knock and try to get on with our lives without Him. And yet to stifle the Word of God would be
the worst thing we could ever do to ourselves.
That would mean that we had deliberately broken off communication
between us and God! Amos makes the dire
prediction, “The
time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will
send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of
the Lord,” (Amos
8.11). Starvation of the Word of God
means spiritual death! For as St. Peter
said, “Lord,
to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life”
(Jn. 6. 68).
Life would be meaningless without Jesus nourishing us with His loving
word.
The whistling
frogs have taught me that if I am to meet God I must not allow the clamour
around me to deafen me to the voice of God, sometimes speaking with a soft,
gentle voice. When I really want to
concentrate I may need to switch off my hearing aid and close my windows so
that I can shut out all distracting bird songs, or in the W. Indies, whistling frogs. Switching to the image
of a radio, I need to tune into the “God Station” if I’m to hear His voice loud
and clear, and tune out of other stations that are enjoyable but
distracting. Then, hopefully, I will
heed the Psalmist, “O
that today you would listen to His voice!
Do not harden your hearts,” (Ps. 95. 7-8). And, hopefully, with the young Samuel I will
always reply, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3. 9).
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