Elephant ears

by Pastor Tom

I have this great little jungle of elephant ears growing just outside my office window. I love those things. If it were up to me, I would have an entire elephant ear lawn. But lately, every time I look at them, I can’t help but think about my own ears.

I hate to admit it, but I suspect that my ears are getting bigger. And the timing is not good at all, because I have also reached the age when the possibility of growing out enough hair to cover them up is completely out of the question. As a matter of fact, I think the hair that used to grow on my head has taken to growing in my ears for fear of being smothered by the ghastly, flappy things. When they talk about the Golden Years, they never mention those gargantuan ears.

One would think that as old men’s ears grew to the size of wrinkled flapjacks, their hearing would improve. But that doesn’t typically happen. The hearing tends to diminish. Our ears get large enough to have their own zip code, and at the same time we couldn’t hear a train crashing into a cymbal factory. I suppose it’s all part of life’s rich pageant.

I’m probably more concerned about the size of my ears than how well they work. The reason is, I’ve always been able to hear way more than I ever pay attention to, anyway. My problem has never been hearing, but rather listening. A lot of times, my mind is drifting when others are talking. Sometimes, I’m too occupied to hear what others say.

There are times when I’m more anxious to get my two cents in than to really listen, so while I should be listening, I’m simply waiting for a crack in the conversation. When it comes, I’ll jump right in there and enlighten whoever it is that I probably would have done well to listen to. And then, there’s that personal experience and attitude filter that everything has to pass through.

In light of my own hearing disability, I shouldn’t be surprised at how poorly others tend to listen, but I still do get surprised. I’ve learned after many years that, as far as sermons, announcements or even articles are concerned, it is simply impossible to anticipate and account for poor listening skills in a way that will allow everyone to understand any given communication. Most of us just don’t listen very well.

It’s interesting that Jesus anticipated poor listening skills, Many times, he ended his teachings with the phrase, “to those who have ears, let them hear.” Of course, most of the people he spoke to had physical ears, but only a percentage really heard him. I think that’s how it is, generally. We have ears, but we don’t hear.

There’s a nice breeze outside, and it’s blowing my elephant ears around. Pretty soon, a strong frost will come along, and they’ll shrivel down to nothing. All the while, my own ears will continue to get bigger. I’m praying that I’ll begin to make better use of them. I do want to hear others. And I want to hear God.