Our house has lots of clocks, I love the way that they tick and chime, each having their own unique sound. however often the time is different depending on the room, or the day of the week, and it adds a lack of certainty around the time. However, not everyone appreciates the clocks chiming, especially when they strike the hour, for a long time the grandfather clock which has a rather loud chime was in the same room where if friends came to stay, they would be using to sleep. Apparently, some friends were woken every hour by the chimes and felt that they did not have a very ‘good night’s sleep’ as a result.
Personally, I could never understand what the problem was as I managed for many years to sleep through the grandfather clock chiming, and it has never woken me in the night. When the clock was stopped moving between British Summer time and there was an enforced silence was more likely to cause me to notice the silence than the chime was to stop my sleeping.
It is not the first time that I have managed to block out noise, and I am probably not alone in being able to be completely engrossed in reading a book and to fail to hear anyone speaking to me. Being so focused on the story can mean that all other noise around me is blanked out completely.
Often, we do not hear what is around us, we fail to hear the birdsong as we walk across the road, we do not hear the noise of cars, or trains, we choose what music we like and the music that does not appeal we ignore. We stop hearing the sounds we do not want, we choose what to listen for, and what to ignore, and it can become a habit not to hear certain sounds that are around us.
Jesus calls us to learn each day to listen for him, to daily turn our minds, hearts and ears to hear his voice and to grow more aware him as we learn what being a disciple means for us.
In John’s gospel Jesus says of himself as the good shepherd ‘and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out’. We are being called by Jesus, he knows our names, and he wants us to listen for his voice calling us, but there are times when we are not listening for his voice and have become deaf to him.
A prayer
Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd you call me by name, you know all about me the good times when I am kind and caring, and the bad times when I am rude and say hurtful words. Please help me to listen for your calling, open my ears that I am wanting to hear you speaking to me, and when I hear you grant me the determination to follow your path. Amen