Being Dumb about Being Deaf
I’ve been reading in Luke during my times with Jesus these days, seeing lots of things I never noticed before, some significant and some just interesting. I’ve decided, as part of my new years’ plan to blog more regularly, that I will share random thoughts from my devotional journal in this blog.
So here goes. My first random devotional thought of the New Year,
from Luke 1:57-66.
It's in the "Interesting" category.
Did you ever notice that when Zechariah was unable to speak for those months before John was born, his neighbors thought he couldn’t hear either? When John was born, and they were discussing what to name the new baby, “they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.”
So why didn’t they just ask him?
Dumbness is normally caused by a person’s inability to hear spoken words. Zechariah’s friends had probably never met a dumb person who was not also deaf.
This is a great big LOL for me. I can just see Zechariah scribbling messages, time after time during those months while John was growing in the womb:
I AM NOT DEAF. I JUST CAN’T TALK. STOP YELLING IN MY EAR AND QUIT THE SIGN LANGUAGE ALREADY!
But when John was born, they were still communicating with him as if he were deaf. He had probably given up convincing them by this time. Meanwhile, imagine all the secrets he overheard.
Simon would say, “Shh. Watch what what you say about old lady Elizabeth. Zechariah is standing next to you.” And Perez would say, “Doesn’t matter. He can’t hear anything anyway.”
It’s kind of ironic. Who’s really deaf in this little story? And who’s really dumb?
So is there a significant point to this observation for me?
Maybe it’s that I need to recognize my very human tendency to just not “get it.” I wonder how many assumptions I make that are not true? Am I so sure I’m right about things that I never even hear someone when they tell me the truth? Maybe I think someone else is deaf, when it’s really me.
Are there any things I simply assume are true that even God couldn’t talk me out of?
How many notes will he have to write to me before I figure it out?
So here goes. My first random devotional thought of the New Year,
from Luke 1:57-66.
It's in the "Interesting" category.
Did you ever notice that when Zechariah was unable to speak for those months before John was born, his neighbors thought he couldn’t hear either? When John was born, and they were discussing what to name the new baby, “they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.”
So why didn’t they just ask him?
Dumbness is normally caused by a person’s inability to hear spoken words. Zechariah’s friends had probably never met a dumb person who was not also deaf.
This is a great big LOL for me. I can just see Zechariah scribbling messages, time after time during those months while John was growing in the womb:
I AM NOT DEAF. I JUST CAN’T TALK. STOP YELLING IN MY EAR AND QUIT THE SIGN LANGUAGE ALREADY!
But when John was born, they were still communicating with him as if he were deaf. He had probably given up convincing them by this time. Meanwhile, imagine all the secrets he overheard.
Simon would say, “Shh. Watch what what you say about old lady Elizabeth. Zechariah is standing next to you.” And Perez would say, “Doesn’t matter. He can’t hear anything anyway.”
It’s kind of ironic. Who’s really deaf in this little story? And who’s really dumb?
So is there a significant point to this observation for me?
Maybe it’s that I need to recognize my very human tendency to just not “get it.” I wonder how many assumptions I make that are not true? Am I so sure I’m right about things that I never even hear someone when they tell me the truth? Maybe I think someone else is deaf, when it’s really me.
Are there any things I simply assume are true that even God couldn’t talk me out of?
How many notes will he have to write to me before I figure it out?
Comments
Thanks for sharing your thoughts - and many blessings!
I agree, I often make assumptions that are not true. This is great encouragement, thank you.