Advent Blog Dec 5th

Communication.    We live or die on it dont we?
These days more than ever it seems.  So many ways in which to be ' in touch'

This week I fell out with a friend.  A good friend.  A bad falling out.

The reason we fell out was because of poor communication.  We somehow got out of tune with each other.  What they said wasn't what I heard and vice versa.  Instead of stopping the conversation and asking for clarification, we both decided to take the hump and get cross and finally start slinging insults and behaving badly     ( Hard to believe of me I know......but I really can be an utter plonker when I try hard )
What started as a difference of opinion over something relatively trivial suddenly became a difficult and damaging war of words  - and of course the result was a mess to sort out and large slices of humble pie to be eaten.   Thankfully we both like humble pie.  I seem to have eaten lots of it over the years :-)

And then yesterday on Facebook I read the most wonderful message from my dear chum Andrew.  Loads of you reading this ( Ha! now there's a presumption!!)  will have seen it too.   Andrew's Dad has been deaf for a long time and had a cochlear implant in September.    Yesterday for the first time in I'm not sure how long ( but long) Andrew had a phone conversation with his Dad.  :-)

How brilliant must it be to not have heard ( ever, or for a long time) and then be able to hear ?  We cannot really start to comprehend that can we?      

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzTt1VnHRM

What is spoken is of no use if it is not heard.

God has spoken.  God speaks.  All the time.  Every day, on any and every occasion, into every circumstance and in myriad ways.   Are we listening?  Are we tuned in?   We can read the Bible and listen to sermons and pray and do all the ' right things.'  But if our hearing aid is not switched on  (as it were) then all of that is just symbols on a page and words in the ether.

Lord,   You are a communicating God and you have created us to thrive on communication.  Thank you for the gifts of speech and hearing, thank you for the technology which allows us to communicate across continents at the touch of a button.  Thank you for the friendships and relationships which enrich our lives and bless us daily.  Help us to communicate clearly, in truth, with love.   And Lord, help us to be attuned to Your voice all the time.  Speak to us in any way you see fit.  And when You speak may we hear clearly and listen carefully.   Amen