Who can I speak to?
    Who can I warn?
    Who will listen to me?
The people of Israel have closed their ears,
    so they cannot hear my warnings.
They don’t like the Lord’s teachings.
    They don’t want to hear his message.

Jeremiah 6:10

So this happened today. It’s a long story that I first reported on almost a year ago – “They have ears but cannot hear” – and something I should have been pursuing long before that.

Last year’s tests revealed that I have enough hearing loss to warrant intervention. But it was not enough to make me willing to take the multi-thousand dollar plunge. Fair enough.

Since then I have been doing a little research and it is apparent that non-intervention comes with repercussions, including relationship stress and a correlation – over time – with increased risk for cognitive decline.

So when my audiologist reached out to me with an invitation to participate in a free trial designed to test drive some newly upgraded technology. I said “yes”. This morning I went in for consultation, demo, and fitting. Now I get to use this state of the art set of hearing aids for a month before making a decision.

The effect has been immediate and profound.

• I seriously did not know, for example, that the mouse I use at this computer makes an audible “click”!
• I did not know that the keys make a noise when I type.
• I did not know that I could hear my dog’s name tag when it bounces against his collar.

Before any adjustments the hearing aids made my voice sound – to me – as if I was using a microphone on a stage. Then, as the various low, high, middle range, background, voice etc. frequencies were tweaked to fit my prescription, my own voice started to sound more familiar.

My job over the next few weeks is to pay attention, to keep notes, and to be 100% honest about how wearing this tech makes a difference – or not.

I especially need to know how well I am hearing Rebekah. Because in the final analysis hearing clearly is critically important for a relationship. Not volume so much as clarity; it’s an important distinction.

Of course it’s impossible to know if we can hear – in any situation – unless we first make the effort to listen.

Listening with my eyes!

I will always remember what our daughter Naomi said to me when she was three or four years old and I was trying to multi-task while she had important things to say: “Listen to me with your eyes, Daddy!” she insisted. Good theology all around.

So the good folk at Wake Audiology can only do the equipment part of this. They can bring to bear the very best available tech in order to give me a fighting chance. The rest is up to me.

“The people of Israel,” the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “have closed their ears…”

The “lots of money”, it turns out, is not the critical issue here. What is important is my desire – or not – to be fully engaged. It’s only been a few hours and I think I know where this is headed.

Stay tuned. Or at least keep your ears open! DEREK