“Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Matt. 11:15
For a long time, I didn’t understand these words of Jesus. Don’t we all hear the same thing?
Um, apparently not. We run everything through our filters and biases, so we come up with different outcomes.
I think part of our nation’s unbelievable distress is a hearing problem.
For example, I heard about the 90-day suspension of foreign aid to assess whether “every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” Marco Rubio
That just seems antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. Maybe it’s just me. I must hear things differently. I thought we were supposed to help the needy even if it doesn’t make us more prosperous. “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” Luke 14:12-14. I was thinking our foreign aid was part of what made America great. But some hear this differently.
And what’s up about getting out of the WHO when we’ve just been through a worldwide pandemic? Just thinking about wisdom here. “Wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” Matt. 11:19. I guess we’ll find out.
And further, I keep hearing about orders that are illegal. I’m not sure I can believe my ears.
I think it’s a good time to review common biases, then assess. Here’s a list. www.cac.org / Recognizing Our Biases. Richard Rohr said, “I don’t know any other way to be free of all these biases except through the contemplative mind. I see almost every one of them within myself–at least at some point in my life. I also believe there are enough good-willed people out there who, if presented with a list of the biases, have the freedom to investigate, “How can I let go of that? How can I move beyond that?”
Jesus said a lot of things repetitively. One of those was “I tell you the truth.” Can we hear that…or do we listen to other voices?