Dear Haddon,
Five years old. Wow. Just wow and Happy Birthday. You will probably hear that a lot today. And you may get 
tired of hearing it but consider yourself blessed if both of your ears are working like they are supposed to.
I unfortunately am not hearing too well these days. Now Nona might make a case that this is not a recent problem and she may be right. But I really truly am not hearing well these days. I woke up a little over a month ago and the hearing in my right ear had turned off. Like a switch had been flipped and all of a sudden I just couldn’t hear out of that ear. It was weird. And even after several doctor visits the only thing that I am hearing out of that ear is just a loud ringing – which is a medical condition called tinnitus and is very annoying.
If you read the gospels and some of the conversations that Jesus had with his disciples, you might conclude that they also had a hearing problem. They did not. But they did have a listening problem. Especially when it came to the things Jesus said about His role as Messiah. They heard what they wanted to hear but did not hear what Jesus was saying.
Case in point: In Matthew 16, Jesus tells His disciples that He will suffer and then be killed… and then be raised from the dead. But it’s as if they stopped listening when He said the words “be killed” because Peter is outraged and, get this, he REBUKES the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So what does Jesus do? He drops the proverbial hammer: 1) He calls Peter (which is a nickname) another nickname – Satan, and 2) He tells the disciples that not only is He going to take up a cross but that if they want to be His disciples that they will also have to take up a cross. If they had not been listening before – well, now He has their attention.
Between the Gospels and the Book of Revelation Jesus used the phrase “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” about 10x. What exactly did Jesus mean by this? Just because you hear someone talking doesn’t mean you hear what they are saying. This is a lesson that it took a while for Peter and the other disciples to learn. This is a lesson that I am still trying to learn. And this is a lesson that I hope you learn early on in life.
It has been said that “most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” I have found this to be true and have come across very few really good listeners. Good listeners don’t just listen with their ears they listen with their eyes and their hearts and their emotions, Good listeners ask questions. Good listeners are not afraid of silence. Good listeners are attentive. Good listeners indeed seek to understand.
One of my prayers for you is that you will become a man who is not just a good listener but a great listener. It is a skill that the Lord will use to bring blessing not just to your own life but especially to the lives of others. And it is a skill that will help you develop a deep abiding walk with God.
Now that I only have one good ear I am having to focus a lot more on my listening skills. So perhaps my loss of hearing will actually make me a better listener too.
Never forget that you are very loved!
Pop Pop