I’m not saying that being temporarily deaf in one ear for a week qualifies as a “bad thing.” But it’s not pleasant either.
I’m more aware now how society accepts a certain volume standard. We know basically about how loud to talk for others to hear. We’ve found the right volume on the radio and TV. But with impaired hearing, those levels change.
I didn’t like having to ask people to talk louder. I didn’t like making sure you sat on my left side so I could hear you. I didn’t like turning up the volume higher than normal.
But what I did like was sitting in church this morning and hearing a pop! I had a great tenor who was singing (muffled) to my right, and my husband whispering sweet nothings in my good ear on my left, when all of a sudden I could hear again! I’m up to about 50% by this afternoon, and I’m loving it.
Will I start hearing again what I’m supposed to be hearing?
Or will I be like these verses I’ve thought about all week:
For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.
Matthew 13:15
I don’t want my vision to be dimmed or my hearing to be dulled. I want to see what I’m destined to see, and hear what I’m designed to hear.
…Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew 13:17
I’ve been blessed to live in this time and place. I want to soak it all up. Paying attention. Eyes and ears wide open.
That’s how I want to live all the time. Seeing with my eyes, hearing with my ears, and understanding with my heart. Gazing at the Master, listening to my Shepherd, delighting in his love.
Living healed. And living thankful.
7 comments:
I too want to see with my eyes, hear with my ears, and understand with my heart..."gazing at the Master, listening to my Shepherd, delighting in his love."
Thank you so much for this post.
Glad to hear your ear is better!
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Karen
I can relate from a different angle. The neuro-issues I had last year affected my ability to swallow and also my ability to speak and sing. And then there was the lung impairment which limited my ability to support notes and sing whole phrases. It's better now, but I still have some issues and my throat gets tired after just a couple songs. Water helps. Oddly enough, singing high notes was part of my physical therapy. Somehow that helps close your palate, or something like that. Glad you're better.
Beautiful words. I am so glad your hearing has improved!
Thanks for the well-wishes. I can still hear this morning - it's so exciting. :-)
G--hope your singing is back to normal now! In my piddly one-week "crisis", singing was one thing that I really missed. And it really made me wonder how I would feel about music and singing in particular if my ability to participate in it was removed. It was good food for thought for me...I'm not finished sorting it out yet.
I'm so glad you can hear again, Lisa! And I appreciate the spiritual parallels you make with your temporary incapacitation!
It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?
So glad you can hear again! I love how God can use everything in our lives to speak to us and teach us - if I only paid attention to more of those learning opportunities!
I can relate about the ear. And not being able to sing is very scary to me. The week before last, my ear canal swelled shut for a few hours (I get psoriasis in the entrance to my ear canal when I'm under stress). It was a scary few hours, wondering how long it would last and how long it would take to get back to normal afterwards (it's happened before). I just prayed that God would heal me and asked him what he wanted me to learn and do in the meantime. That day, he was reminding me to trust him, even when I don't like something. Thankfully it was minimal this time, but it's always scary.
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