Hearing Loss and Balance

Out for my morning run, I was plugged in and enjoying some tunes on my Ipod.  Several songs into my run I noticed a different sound, and I had to smile as I realized the cause.

A few of my selections are recorded on a two-track format. That is, they have separate parts of the song flowing through each side of the earpiece. Listened to in tandem, they make a beautiful, full-sounded composition. If heard alone (with just a single earbud), the one-track sound is often unbalanced, hollow, and sometimes missing altogether.

I am deaf in one ear. So, I hear all music with just a single-sided earphone.  (My kids pass on all their defective earbuds; I just cut off the deficient side and I’m good to go!) This hearing loss is all I’ve ever known, having been completely deaf in my left ear since birth. The cause is unknown, and most of the time, the impact on me is minimal to non-existent.

(Although I’m tempted to put in a wide-sweeping apology here to anyone who at any time has felt ignored , snubbed, or has had me answer in a way that didn’t fit with the question or conversation.  It may be that I just didn’t hear you!   Really.) 

Most of the time my good ear compensates and I hear just fine.

 But during today’s morning jog, this imbalance caused me to hear  several of my daughter’s choral group numbers with lopsided vocals and lone accompaniment ‘bee-bops’ meant to be joined by the other side of the musical score. What I was hearing was absent of the balance of the full musical portrait. It was comical at best; completely hijacked of its musical intention, at worst.

One-sidedness.

This humorous incident parallels a reality for all of us, as it relates not to physical hearing but to the peril of grasping fully and only a single side of a life issue.  It is stubbornly holding to one side of a matter, refusing and denying the opportunity  to listen and learn from the other position’s side. Often believing the other side (and its proponents) are the enemy.

Now, understand me here:  I agree that we all naturally and rightly make judgements and form opinions on all sorts of issues.  This reality is a legitimate part of our human nature.  The danger comes when we ‘pull the other side of the earphone completely out’, refusing to consider and ‘hear’ the other side. We remove the value of balance.

(And there are truths that are not debatable; that Scripture asserts decisively; God's Word is the final voice. I am not talking about these issues. Instead, there are a plethora of day-to-day positions with which we identify.)

Balance is needed and provides wisdom in ALL kinds of areas.  I've listed below just a few positive examples of this:

• I choose a certain kind of educational setting for my child, but recognize it has weaknesses and is not my family’s educational ‘savior’---nor is an alternative choice the educational ‘devil’.
• I identify with a certain religious denomination, believing it best reflects Scripture’s teaching on the church, but I understand there are strengths in other denominations which I can learn from, and there are weaknesses of my denomination to which  I best pay attention.
• I enjoy and prefer a specific worship style, certain IT best encourages true heartfelt praise, reverence, and adoration, yet I am willing to defer my choices often and regularly if it means the Body is better served. Balance knows it is not about ME, but about HIM…and His local, assembled body. (Some of whom may prefer a different style of worship.)
• Freedom from legalistic requirements that Scripture describes as grace does not eliminate my headstrong pursuit of holiness which includes discipline, structure, and often doing things I don’t feel like doing.  The gospel frees me to live righteously in reflection of my new identity in Christ.

 So…can I challenge you to select an area you have a strong opinion/preference/position, and give some thought to the alternative view….perhaps even entering into conversation with one who differs from you….and ask him/her:

What weaknesses of my view do you see that I can consider and learn from?  What are the strengths of your view that can help me understand it better, possibly even learn from?

(Doesn’t mean you’ll switch sides…just that you’ll have greater understanding…and balance.)

Enjoy the music with contribution from both sides of the earbuds.