Mark
7, 31-37
6th
Trinity August
As
he was again leaving the region around Tyre, he went through the
country around Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the
region of the ten cities of the Decapolis. They brought to him one who was deaf
and who spoke with difficulty, and asked him to lay his hands on him. And he
led him apart from the crowds by himself, laid his finger in his ears, and
moistening his finger with saliva, touched his tongue, and looking up to the
heavens, sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphata, be opened.” His hearing was
opened and the impediment of his tongue was removed and he could speak
properly. And he commanded them not to say anything to anyone. But the more he
forbade it, the more they widely they proclaimed it. And the people were deeply
moved by this event, and said, “He has changed all to the good: the deaf he
makes to hear and the speechless to speak.
6th August Trinity
August
27, 2006
Mark
7: 31-37
For
someone who is a little hard of hearing, background noise is difficult to
filter out. All sounds begin to have equal weight, so that out of a sea of
sound, it becomes difficult to locate the one voice one wants to hear.
Modern
life is noisy; not only literally, with traffic noise, media and crowds; but
there are also all the things, all the information, all the personal,
professional and world input that clamors for our attention. Through
over-stimulus our souls have become hard of hearing. We can’t find the really
important voice we want to pay attention to.
In
this healing parable, Christ takes the man who is deaf and leads him apart from
the crowds, by himself, so that it is just the two of them. He touches ears and
tongue. And then he says, “Be opened!”
When
The
words stop
And
you can endure the silence
That
reveals your heart’s
Pain
Of
emptiness
Or
that great wrenching-sweet longing,
That
is the time to try and listen
To
what the Beloved’s
Eyes
Most
want
To
Say. *
Christ
encourages us to step aside from all the inner and outer noise of the everyday.
He helps us find our way through our pain and longing. The pure tone of a bell
touches our ears. In communion His body touches our tongue. And we hear him
say, “I am at peace. My peace, my clarity of stillness I give to you.” And our
souls open—open to Him in gratitude.
www.thechristiancommunity.org
www.thechristiancommunity.org
*
Hafiz, “When You can Endure” in The
Gift, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 143
