Listening Ears Hear

Last updated on: August 30, 2007 at 1:53 pm by David Hayward

Listening Ears Hear 2007-08-30T13:53:20-04:00 David Hayward

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I wrote something yesterday in this post on Higher Learning or Life that I thought I would expand upon a bit today. It is the quote:

There is a transformation that is not planned or manufactured or even wish for, a completely new creation in which truth alone is master and not the efforts of my own mind.

This one sentence reveals my complete exhaustion with knowledge. I have concluded that our intelligence may have made our life easier in many ways, but it has also brought much destruction. We do not love any more than we used to. In fact, we use facts to divide and hate and punish. Our never-ending studies have not brought us any closer to the truth. I know we need to learn facts in order to live from day to day. But amassing fact upon fact in our brains is only impressive but it ultimately changes nothing. We are like a carpenter with tons of tools hanging off his belt. Impressive! But he can’t build the house! I was talking with a pastor recently who said he’s been preaching about grace for years and years, and when he talks with his people, he realizes that they haven’t changed their minds at all! They believe what they’ve always believed and will continue to do so. He’s deciding whether or not he wants to keep doing this for the rest of his life.

Our minds are hard, inflexible, determined and rigid. We take bits of facts and tack them onto our calloused brains like a bunch of sticky-notes. If the fact doesn’t agree with what we already believe, then we neglect it or change it to harmonize. This is human behavior. This is how our brains work. It is a machine intent on self-preservation, and that is its primary impulse. We must see this. This is fundamental!

Can we calm ourselves? Can we truly listen? There is true transformation that comes about by truth itself, and not my analysis of it or my grasping for it. When I listen and the truth is heard, that in itself transforms! And this can be heard anywhere at anytime. Jesus didn’t say, “Consider John 3:16!” He said, “Consider the lilies of the field.” Can we listen? For those who have ears to hear, let them hear!

The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Jorgen Klausen.

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