Calling, Hearing, Understanding
Do you ever wonder if all the convenience offered by our various devices and appliances are, in fact, truly convenient? Take our “kind of new” telephone. The old phone, which hung on the wall and had a cord, was fading away and I admit needed replacing, but I’d still like to just pick up the ringing phone and say, “Hello” instead of fumbling around to push the button for “Talk.” Which, by the way, is on the left side of the handset and is just totally wrong. Also, you don’t hang up — there’s yet another button to push or it’s as though you’d left the phone off the hook. Convenient? I’m not so sure.
Admittedly, this is an unusual way to introduce a devotion, but it occurred to me how important speech and hearing are in our interactions with one another. We need to express ourselves, to be heard and understood, and to listen to others and understand them. When speech and/or hearing are problematic, we turn to sign language, lip reading, hearing aids — whatever we can do to make communication possible.
One of the most moving scenes in a movie that I’ve ever witnessed was in “The Miracle Worker,” the story of how Helen Keller, blind and deaf from birth, had the world opened to her by her teacher, Annie Sullivan. There were struggles and rage, but when Annie held Helen’s hands under the flowing water from a pump and spelled “water” into her hand, the lock was broken. For Helen, “water” was the breakthrough that led to her ability to learn, communicate, and make an inspiring contribution to the world.
In spite of our spiritual blindness and deafness, God brings us into relationship with him by the water and The Word of Holy Baptism. Through this relationship we are able to call on God for protection, comfort, and understanding. At times we may wonder if God hears us, or is even bothering to listen, because we aren’t getting the hoped-for answer. But those answers come in various ways, whether we experience a sense of peace, we find a new way to look at a problem, or we become confident in a decision we need to make.
Throughout the Bible, the message is loud and clear: Call upon God — he will hear you and you will be answered. From an Old Testament prophet to Paul’s letter to the Romans, there is a recurring theme:
“The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah . . . Thus says the Lord who made the earth: Call to me and I will answer you,” (Jeremiah 33:1b, 3).
“. . . the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” (Romans 10:12b, 13)
What a blessing that we don’t need to feel inadequate or unworthy, wondering whether we should call out to God. We are assured that our heavenly Father wants us to call on him, and is listening to whatever is in our hearts.
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers