This week was an exciting one in the Honeycutt household. Mikayla had her cochlear implant turned on for the first time Monday. Heather captured a video of it, and I love to watch it and see Mikayla's eyes light up the first time she heard her mother's voice. What a special moment that was. I have been reflecting on hearing for the past couple months, and the deeper meaning to hearing than just pure hearing of sounds. I was at mass a few weeks ago, and our priest made a prayer "Lord, give us the ears to hear the voice of God." When you have a daughter who can't hear, that really makes you ponder. How does she hear the voice of God, and how does it sound to her? Even now that she can technically hear sound, I still wonder often how she will know God in her life? Will she have any understanding of God as I do, or will she connect with his love in a different way entirely than I am able? I, of course, don't have the answers to these questions yet or perhaps ever in my lifetime. Mikayla may never truly intellectually grasp any sort of theology or religion in her life, but I have to believe that somehow God will speak to her in a way she can/will understand. I have to believe that somehow he will find the words to speak to me, so I can be at peace with the way he crafted Mikayla and her brain. I have to believe, because I can't accept a life and a world that is devoid of a greater meaning. So I ask you, what do you hear in your life that means more to you than just sound? I know for me, the ability for my daughter to hear my voice and the voice of her mother is enough hearing for me.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Ears to Hear the Voice of God
This week was an exciting one in the Honeycutt household. Mikayla had her cochlear implant turned on for the first time Monday. Heather captured a video of it, and I love to watch it and see Mikayla's eyes light up the first time she heard her mother's voice. What a special moment that was. I have been reflecting on hearing for the past couple months, and the deeper meaning to hearing than just pure hearing of sounds. I was at mass a few weeks ago, and our priest made a prayer "Lord, give us the ears to hear the voice of God." When you have a daughter who can't hear, that really makes you ponder. How does she hear the voice of God, and how does it sound to her? Even now that she can technically hear sound, I still wonder often how she will know God in her life? Will she have any understanding of God as I do, or will she connect with his love in a different way entirely than I am able? I, of course, don't have the answers to these questions yet or perhaps ever in my lifetime. Mikayla may never truly intellectually grasp any sort of theology or religion in her life, but I have to believe that somehow God will speak to her in a way she can/will understand. I have to believe that somehow he will find the words to speak to me, so I can be at peace with the way he crafted Mikayla and her brain. I have to believe, because I can't accept a life and a world that is devoid of a greater meaning. So I ask you, what do you hear in your life that means more to you than just sound? I know for me, the ability for my daughter to hear my voice and the voice of her mother is enough hearing for me.
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Hearing to me is a bit more than just sound. There is also physical mechanical part to it... think of taking a pulse, or feeling vibrations through a wall. For a more fun visual version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CJJ6FrfuGU
ReplyDeleteYour questions around hearing apply to any two people. How do we know what you hear is the same as what I hear? Qualia aside, there further steps that complicate understanding.
In Patanjali's words, every spoken word (shabdha) carries with it the dhvani (sound) and the sphota (meaning). As the person that hears the spoken word, our challenge is to understand the intended meaning.
When I hear spoken words, I recognize the sounds as language, identify the words, and then gather understanding of the words. However to derive meaning, I also need to add context and intonations, flavor it with experience and my current state of mind, and finally deconstruct the true meaning. Most of the time this happens devoid of understanding of the speaker's role and intention.
If the intention is know and understand God, you need more than just hearing the spoken word, but at the same time, hearing is not necessary. I wager that understanding and faith alone are sufficient. And I don't mean understanding theology or religion; but, "knowing" God. Not hearing, not seeing... not even feeling, but truly knowing.
Here is what I believe: Mikayla, unlike us, has a more direct (pure, if you will) connection to God. She is not beholden to spoken words and their interpretation, or their misinterpretations. Neither does she need intermediaries to make this beautiful, strong connection. As such, I believe she knows God better than I, for there is no language to bias interpretation (cf. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis).
Your post has me rethinking about the meaning of meaning.