Ever heard of someone being “hard of walking?”  Or “hard of thinking?”  “Hard of ______” has for five centuries been used to mean “having difficulty doing something.”  Aging can make us “hard of hearing.”  An estimated 37.5 million Americans are experiencing hearing loss.  Very few use devices to mitigate their loss.

Stephen Covey writes, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”  Ernest Hemingway adds, “Most people never listen.”

The Good Shepherd tells us, “"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me….”  As a result, we read,  “They follow Him because they know His voice.”  One wonders if sheep experience hearing loss.  Or if they heed an impostor.  

Truth is … “They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."  Many voices are cued up to distract us from hearing our Good Shepherd.  Their distraction, if surrendered to, can be our destruction.

Are you listening?