LISTENING TO GOD IN A NOISY WORLD
On Friday, Jan 8, my wife Kay experienced a sudden brain bleed that was found later to have been caused by a small malignant mass. She was taken by ambulance to OBX Hospital, evaluated and stabilized, then transferred again by ambulance to Sentara Norfolk General ER. In less than 48 hours after the incident and many tests later, she underwent brain surgery on Sunday morning, Jan 10. Tests subsequently confirmed the mass to be a melanoma metastasis. As I write this, Jan 17, she is steadily recovering from the surgery, a treatment plan has been developed to treat the cancer, and we are looking forward to returning home and beginning in-home physical and speech therapy. It has not been "a quiet week in Lake Woebegone"!
We live in a noise-driven society, even on the Outer Banks. Our culture seldom honors silence. We are prone to turn on radios and tv's. Hospitals are notoriously loud - bells, bongs, alarms, countless interruptions. We Facebook and Messenger and text and Snap Chat, whatever that is. And that's all just the external noises; what about the noise our minds generate to control, to manage, to protect us? Even when we sit quietly or alone, our mind takes over. Our ego is our great shining knight protecting us from all assaults, identifying next steps we should take, anticipating every potential risk or danger we might face and attempting to plan successful outcomes. We all experience these thoughts, especially in the dark night of our soul, when fear runs amok, and we get way out in front of the parade!
"Invited or not, God is present," a Michael Podesta calligraphy hanging in our living area, has become a reinforcing reminder of my reality. I now know that the God of heaven, the God of love, is in the here and now, in everything, and especially in the faces of friends and strangers. In the past week, I have simply had to look into eyes seeking, to listen to lips speaking, to hear words caring to know that God is present and loving. The challenge I have, actually all of us have, is to stop talking, both in words spoken and thoughts driven so that we might indeed listen --- not only with our ears, but with our eyes and our heart. When I am able to do only that, the awareness of God's presence is humbling.
Tom O’Brien
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