TRIBUTE TO THE EAR

HIDDEN, YET REVEALED

A TRIBUTE TO A PART OF CHRIST'S BODY:  THE EAR,

AND TO THOSE WITH THE MODEST GIFT OF LISTENING

There are those who listen

While they in silence wait;

The outer and inner ear, as well as the heart

Are tuned to things not seen,

Self forgotten.

Just as the Master bends low,

His Fatherly ear always open,

Listening to the wounded creature who cries,

Uttered or hurting, muted;

Articulated or staunchly secluded.

It has been said, speech is 

"A faculty given to man to conceal his thoughts"

(Talleyrand).

But you look beyond, you always look deeper:

Things hidden, these also seen by the Master.

You seem to fish for hidden pearls,

Flashes of light long concealed,

The mirror of the soul now revealing; 

For a crusty exterior gently exposed

And pried open, reveals a treasure worth seeking.

Oh my friend, as I watch you today and I listen,

You show me the workings of mystery:

Love throws the net, patience the bait;

While you listen and wait,

Ear bending near, 

 Unknowing, you follow The Master.

     "And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not of the

      body,' is it therefore not of the body?...But now God has set the

      members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased."  

             (1 Corinthians 12:16,18)