Faith Comes by Hearing

This has been a challenging week.  I'm not referring to anything that has been happening in the world.  I'm not talking about the fluctuation in the weather or the stock market.  I'm not even talking about the still high cost of eggs (and what are our plans for dying Easter eggs this year?  Someone suggested using potatoes.  I'm not seeing an Easter Spud Hunt.)

No, I'm talking about something that is really troubling in my life and there is nothing that I can do to naturally overcome it: it's hearing loss.  Yeah.  You heard it right.  Hearing loss.  This past week, it seems like my hearing has taken a turn for the worse.  I think it is the barometric pressure - a change in the weather patterns.  It could also be the tinnitus which I have self-diagnosed myself as having (I will know more in a couple of weeks because I have an appointment with a hearing specialist at Mayo).  I'm really hoping that this is a short-term deal, but I don't know.  It's tough to grow older, I guess.

Like I said, this week has been challenging.  And frustrating - for me and for others around me.  No one appreciates having to repeat themselves just because I haven't heard them.  They give you this exasperated look like you haven't been paying attention when you've been doing everything you can to try and hear everything that's being said.  And as one who is dealing with the loss, it's hard to sit in a room with others talking and not being able to participate because you cannot hear.

It's not a great feeling all round.  Nobody's happy.

Apart from setting up an appointment with a hearing specialist who can change the course of my life, there really isn't much I can do.  I can turn to scripture for help, but there isn't much that said in the Bible about someone who is losing their hearing.  The Bible doesn't explicitly address hearing loss as a physical condition, but it does use the imagery of "deaf ears" metaphorically to describe spiritual blindness or a refusal to listen to God's word.  While that might be timely for the world we live in right now, it's not really applicable to what I am dealing with.

I could study what it means to be patient.  The Bible encourages believers to be patient in trials, to wait upon God, and practice patience in their relationships.  Key passages highlight patience as a fruit of the Spirit and a path to peace and understanding.  One example of a biblical passage about patience comes from Romans 12:12: "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer".  I certainly could and will follow that advice.  

I can even appreciate how God makes it a point to single out the older adults among us (which I am now a part of) - listen to these words from Isaiah 46:4: "God promises to continue carrying his people through old age, stating, "And I'll keep on carrying you when you're old.  I'll be there, bearing you when you're old and gray.  I've done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you" (paraphrased from The Message).  I know I have the gray hairs that are a requirement for this passage!

These are all helpful.  I know I will not always have weeks like this.  I'm actually looking forward to the results of my appointment and what it might mean - to hear clearly again.  And to my friends or strangers who are reading this post, I offer a word of encouragement and advice - please, do not take your hearing for granted.  It is just one of the precious gifts of being human.

You hear me?