January 24, 2019

“Be careful little ears what you hear...” Who would have guessed that a simple child’s Sunday School song could be so instructive for life today? I’m sitting at the dealership waiting for a warranty frame inspection on my truck, and hearing in the background MSNBC chattering on about the government shutdown, throwing around blame and demonizing the opposition. I feel sorry for those pundits. Spending every waking hour fixated on everything they don’t like has to be a hard way to live. The same goes for social media trolls are busy attacking people they don’t even know. The whole situation has way more heat than light.

This little song has wisdom for much in life. Kids listen to the online bullying, unable or unwilling to shut it down. Husbands and wives are often quick to point out each others’ faults, but slow to build each other up. Bosses humiliate employees while the latter complain about the unfairness of it all. Any or perhaps all of these are justified in their dissatisfaction, but when we focus all our energy and attention on what’s wrong instead of what is right in life, it can drain us of the resources we need to live with joy and gratitude. 

Talking with a friend the other day, I recounted a time when the situation I was facing was so distressing, so wrong and so all-encompassing that it took enormous energy for me to shift my attention from my hurt and anger to the work I needed to do and the life I wanted to live. It wasn’t easy. It was absolutely necessary for me to listen to Scripture, to the proddings of the Holy Spirit, all of which were pushing me to move in a direction I didn’t want to go. I wanted revenge; to get even, to hurt those hurting me and my family. Had I listened to those voices, had I allowed myself to think this way, it would have resulted in me walking a dark road to the destruction of my own soul, let alone much of what I value. I had to choose what I would listen to, how I would allow myself to think. As I said, it wasn’t easy. But it was critical to do so.

Those who listen to those who tell them they are entitled, to those who demonize those whose opinions are different than theirs, who listen to their own inner conversations, to the politicians and pundits whose job is more a matter of stirring up dissatisfaction than actual governing or informing, are setting themselves up for a joyless, vapid existence.

I am thankful tonight that I learned that Sunday School song so many years ago. I listen to the news in measured doses, but not before I allow the Scriptures to shape and strengthen me. I am careful about what I hear, because I know that what grows in my life depends on what I plant in my soul. I want to; I must, plant well.