My daughter gave me an interesting description in my Mother’s Day card. She said I have “elephant ears.”
At first, I wasn’t sure this was a compliment! As I read on however, I understood what she meant. This is my daughter who sometimes gets lost in the noisy crowd of our family of eight children. Everyone is loud and boisterous. She is sweet and gentle…until she has had enough! As she went on in her card, she said that I have elephant ears to hear when she is feeling a little lost or sad. She feels like I hear her in the midst of the noise.
It is not always easy, okay, it is seldom easy, to be attentive to all the needs of eight children. I do my best to notice and help them where and when I can. I have to be careful that it is not only the squeaky wheels who receive the grease though.
Her comments made me think of those in our communities who are naturally quiet. They can go unnoticed whether at church or in other groups. Jesus seemed to be especially attentive to this particular group of people, whether it was a woman touching his garment in a crowd or a blind beggar crying out from the margins. Jesus heard and saw people.
There are two sides to this realization. One, if we are the naturally quiet, we can know that Jesus sees us. Also, we may need to speak up and ask for what we need, even with God. Two, if we are the naturally out-going or louder people, we need to open our “elephant ears” to hear the quieter ones and listen to their needs. May we each grow our listening ears until they are the size of an elephant’s!
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen.” James 1:19a
Leave a Reply