Don Berry is an electrician and has been very beneficial in keeping our electrical needs resolved here at the church. I’ve also used him on electrical projects at my house.
On one occasion a couple of years ago we had an electrical problem at our home. I called Don up and explained the problem and we agreed on a time when he would be there. Don is usually very prompt and I was concerned when he didn’t show up as promised.
A bit later he called me from his cell phone. He had been at the church and couldn’t find the problem I had described. We had a big misunderstanding. I was describing an electrical problem at my house and he was thinking I was describing a problem at the church. We wasted a half hour of his time over a miscommunication.
I think many of our problems are either mis-speaking or mis-hearing. That is the cause of 90% of the disagreements Anita and I have. I say one thing and she hears another. Then she says something and I hear another. Is there a way out of the mis-communication dilemma? Probably not until we learn to speak the same language.
Let’s try a little harder to hear what each other is saying today.
Tags: hearing, mistakes, misunderstanding
A man was having difficulty communicating with his wife and concluded that she was becoming hard of hearing. So he decided to conduct a test without her knowing about it.
One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him and she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me?” There was no response.
Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still no reply.
Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.
Finally he moved right in behind her chair and said, “Can you hear me now?” To his surprise and chagrin she responded with irritation in her voice, “For the fourth time, yes! What a warning to us about judging.
Tags: hearing, humor, judging
In response to Anita’s complaints about my “selective deafness”, I went to a hearing doctor to have my hearing checked. The test confirmed that I have significant hearing loss in my left ear. So I ordered a hearing aid. They are allowing me to wear it for three months as a test before I decide if I want to keep it.
Never having worn a hearing aid before, I didn’t know how it would help, or even if it would. So, I wore the thing for six days and really couldn’t tell a difference, at least not enough to make it worth all that money. I even turned it on and off near a sound source and couldn’t tell a difference. I had nearly decided to send it back when I decided to read the instruction book (duh!). The book said there would be an acoustical tone when it was turned on; I had never heard that.
So I put in a new battery, and presto: sound. That battery was dead from the day I got it and I never knew it. Now I can even hear the hair of my head brushing against the microphone. What a difference power makes!
What an object lesson regarding the Holy Spirit. A person who has never heard God’s voice doesn’t know what he/she should be hearing. So, silence seems normal. But when the Holy Spirit’s power comes into a life, suddenly everything becomes clear. What a difference His power makes!
Now I’ll be able to hear everything Anita says to me. Is that good or bad?
Tags: hearing, Holy Spirit, power