Sunday, October 23, 2011
Did you ever beg anyone to listen?
Jeremiah has surprised me. I began with expectations of weepy prophetic utterances and lots of doom and judgment. What I've found is raw courage on Jeremiah's part, endless patience and unrelenting offers of salvation on God's part, and determined disbelief and disobedience on the part of the hearers. It's not easy to say things that people really need to listen to and see them repeatedly take no interest whatsoever. 22:29 "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD." I can't get over the sound of that plea, a source of help for me as I prepare to teach a class of non music majors how to listen to classical music. Jeremiah will be my companion in this journey, quaking in my boots I assure you.
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Thanks for the post, Michelle. You're right about how difficult it is to say things people need to hear but won't listen to. And in books where, like you said, it's easy to misremember the tenor of God's dealings with his people, it is a good reminder that he is unrelenting and patient. It reminds me of the writer of Hebrews, who keeps saying "Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart." He will be speaking to us today. And we might not want to listen. But he is so good, and we need to hear him.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like how you make the connection here to different kinds of listening. It's cool to think about our work of trying to be good listeners ourselves and to teach others to listen, too, on several levels. What a cool class. And what lucky students.