But Diane's condition has alerted me to my own spiritual deafness. I serve a God who speaks. But I very rarely hear what he is saying. Only occasionally can I quieten the frantic clamour of smartphone, emails, tv news, social media and messaging to even ask if he has something to say. It seems that I suffer from the equivalent of congestion of the soul, or perhaps blocked spiritual sinuses!
What kind of father would I be if I didn't want to speak to my child, or grandfather that only spoke to their grandchild once a year or so? God is a loving heavenly Father, who delights to communicate with his children. He does so through his words in the Bible, but also by the whisper of his Spirit in our quietened hearts. He is speaking every day - but are we listening?
In George Bernard Shaw's play Saint Joan, the newly crowned King Charles says to Joan of Arc:
'Oh your voices, your voices. Why don't the voices come to me? I am king, not you.' Joan replies; 'They do come to you but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field in the evening listening for them'.🞼
Diane's deafness is thankfully short-lived. A course of medication will clear it, but my spiritual deafness may take a little longer to undo. Maybe I should pray the prayer of Samuel, the Old Testament prophet who said to God 'Speak Lord, for your servant is listening'?
🞼 quoted by Peter Lawrence in The Spirit who Speaks (DavidCCookUK, Eastbourne, 2011) 63.
