137 What Do You Hear?
Marty, a native New Yorker, was giving his native American Indian friend Robert a tour of Brooklyn. As they were walking around taking in the sights, Robert stopped Marty at a busy intersection and asked him, "Did you hear that?"
Marty stopped and tried to listen, but there was too much noise. There were street vendors hawking their wares. There were beggars asking for handouts. There was a street preacher on the corner, preaching out of an old worn Bible to anyone passing by. There were passer-bys walking along the street talking on cell phones. There was also the noise from all the cross-traffic at the intersection.
"I don't hear anything unusual," Marty replied.
Robert paused again and listened. "Do you hear it now?"
Marty was completely puzzled. "No, Robert, what am I supposed to be hearing?"
The next thing Marty knew, Robert quickly crossed the intersection and walked to a planter 30 feet away. He scooped something out of the planter and then came back to where Marty was standing. Marty looked into Robert's hand and saw a small cricket.
"You heard a cricket chirping from 30 feet away in the middle of all this noise?" asked Marty, completely amazed. "Do you have bionic hearing or something, Robert?"
Robert smiled and replied no. "You know on the reservation there is a lot more nature than here. It's just a sound I'm attuned to. I don't have bionic hearing. Let me show you what I mean with a little demonstration."
Robert took a few coins from his pocket and threw them straight up into the air. Marty watched as the coins fell and clattered to the ground. Much to his surprise, everyone within 30 feet of the coins - the street vendors, the beggars, the street preacher, the passer-bys - all stopped what they were doing and gazed upon the direction where the coins fell.
Are you tuned in listening to the voice of God?
- Recommended reading: 1 Kings 19:11-13, Psalm 85:8, 1 Corinthians 14:21
