Ears that Hear

One of our dogs has a quite annoying habit, she can pick up the faintest creak of a bag of cookies being opened when she is in a sound sleep several rooms away. I suppose I only have myself to blame, both for the fact of opening the bag for a cookie, and secondly for getting her in the habit of expecting a bite at the end. It can be so infuriating when I try my best to be deliberate and slow about quietly opening the bag but by the time I’m sliding the cookie completely out of the bag I hear the clicking of her nails against the flooring as she quickly comes into the kitchen with her ears perked up and eyes fixed on my hands. Then I’m not only out one bite, but I’m out two because the other dog follows behind. It can take all the pleasure out of sneaking a treat! I don’t mind sharing so much, but it’s the pretense of being invisible and the extravagance not counting if no one else sees it. Like the new shirt that gets whisked away to the closet, or the CD with the cellophane quickly removed, or the cookie held behind the back, we are skilled at finding ways to hide our actions and foolishly thinking it will delay their consequences.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, Do you shake your head in amazement at our folly or do you grow limp in sorrow at our failure to understand your omnipotence and mercy? Again and again we think we can control the variables to portray the veneer we want others to see, but truth cannot be camouflaged. Help us to act in ways that bring credit and honor, not grievances that bring disappointment and reprimands. As we strive to improve our own course, let us also be aware of adverse activities in the world. We have “ears that hear and eyes that see – the Lord has made them both.” (Proverbs 20:12) Let us attune our ears to the fine hints of deceit and injustice and see with clear vision the facts of inequality that can’t be disguised. We are accountable both by our actions and our inactions. We long for your favor, but sometimes we find the way there more difficult than others. We seek your strength to live in truth. Amen.

Then the LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.
I Samuel 3:11-13