In today’s gospel Jesus heals a man’s hearing and speech. The story is a parable about discipleship; we speak the good news because we have heard the good news. As Jesus works with his disciples in St. Mark’s gospel, he must first heal their hearing, then teach them how to hear and finally, how to speak.
Hearing requires more than good ears. You must have some “context” in which to place what you have heard. You cannot understand what a Swahili speaker is saying unless you understand Swahili. And that might require a trip to Africa and a visit to your friend’s native territory. There you might learn what the Swahili word for lion is; it might bear no resemblance to the animal you saw on TV. There may be stories and legends, songs and images about the animal of which you have no knowledge. To see, hear or understand something you must have some idea of what it is.
Perhaps you’ve heard of this famous experiment: Researchers asked a group of people to watch a televised basketball game. Half the group was asked to count the number of passes the red team made in five minutes; the other half should do the same with the green team. After viewing the game they found their subjects had watched the ball closely. Both groups accurately reported the ball's movement.
Then they asked, “What did the gorilla do?” Many of the watchers had not seen the man in a gorilla suit running around among the ball players. If you’ve seen the video you will ask, “How could they not see him?” But they didn’t because they were watching for something else. They didn’t expect to see a man in a gorilla suit; in a sense, they could not imagine it. People get killed on the highways because some people don’t expect to see – and therefore cannot see – pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles.
Can you hear of God's love if you don’t expect to hear it? Probably not. Have you ever tried to convince a friend she is good, holy, beautiful or forgiven when she believed it could not be? She has no context, no place in her imagination or personal history to understand herself as loved, appreciated or forgiven.
Being with Jesus the disciples first came to understand his intense loyalty and affection for them. He wanted nothing from them except their wholeness and happiness, but he could not simply make them whole or happy. They needed his Healing Spirit to work on them during his earthly ministry.
He allowed them to see how far his love would be stretched – stretched to left and right, to the earth below and the sky above -- through suffering and death and into eternity.
Only then could they tell us about him.
This is why we must spend so many hours in prayer, opening ourselves to his healing grace, and letting God open us to his astonishing love.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.