image by daman.co.id
This semester will wrap up my teaching career, and it’s time. Just one of many reasons—in our discussion-based English classes, I frequently have to ask students to repeat their comments, but louder. When the old guy receives a questioning look, I merely respond, “Listened to way too much loud rock and roll at your age. Just wait…”
That listening loss bothers me. Sometimes I smile and miss parts of the conversation rather than asking for a rerun. It’s not bad enough for a hearing aid, vanity says. But perhaps all of this yields a metaphor of greater significance.
Too much listening
to loud rock and roll
has destroyed
too much hearing
Whispers are seldom heard
and high ranges disappear
So I find myself
cut off from conversation
missing so much sound and life
Too much listening
to the loud cries of my desires
and minor pleasures
has destroyed
too much hearing
Your whispers are never heard
sensitive moments totally ignored
So I find myself
cut off from conversations with you
missing so much
of what you do in life
Too busy
too enrapt
in trivial pursuits
and carnal pleasures
to really listen
Kick Starting the Application
Have you experienced negative consequences to whispers lost from God? What caused you to not hear them? How could you have been better able to catch them?
Overall, how sensitive are you to the whispers of God? What helps you? What hurts you?
What one thing this week can you do to increase your sensitivity?