Hearing

As we get older, our hearing deteriorates. I can no longer hear high pitched hums which younger people can detect. This difference is used by some Police forces to discourage young people from hanging around in some locations. But most of us suffer from selective hearing - we manage to ignore what we don't want to hear! There are endless jokes about this condition  -most of which I have forgotten (that is selective memory).
In his preaching, which was obviously spoken, and therefore had to be heard, Jesus spoke often about hearing. Merely hearing the words wasn't sufficient. 'Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” (Mark 4.9) At the end of his seminal parable, the Sower (or should it be The Soils?), Jesus concluded, 'And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Mark 4.20)
Next week, many of us will join the 'You've Got the Time' campaign, listening to the whole of the New Testament, presented dramatically by Riding Lights Theatre Company. We may enjoy hearing familiar stories, and discover material that we didn't know. But what will we hear? What will God be saying to us, and what difference will it make to out lives? That will be interesting!
Best wishes,
Richard