‘Take care how you hear’. Isn’t that a strange thing to say? I guess I don’t usually think of hearing as something I have much choice over. I hear what’s there to be heard. It feels pretty passive to me.
But as soon as I say that I realise its not. Hearing is more than just letting a noise in your ear. Hearing is paying attention to someone. Hearing is understanding what’s being said. Hearing is accepting a communication. Hearing is learning a truth.
Seeing is believing—well so is hearing. To hear is to make a commitment, however tiny. And what we hear is never neutral.
I’m thinking of the constant conversation in our heads between many different voices. I’m thinking about the opinions those voices carry, the claims they make, whether they affirm or condemn, speak the truth or with serpent tongue.
We should take care how we hear.
Do I hear the voice that makes me whole; that speaks of love; that offers the hand of friendship? Or do I prefer the voice of fragmentation, of failure, of regret?
I’m amazed how much time I give to hearing how stupid, alone and hopeless I am when all the time I am aware another voice, strangely familiar, wants me to live, to love, and be free.
And Luke is right: listen to the right voice and to what you have will be given more. Listen to the other and even what you think you have will be taken away. – Take care what you hear!