Pastor Larson’s Corner: Can you hear me now?

I recently visited a friend in California who said he had begun looking into buying a hearing aid. He took a test, which indicated hearing loss in both ears. Since I already wear a hearing aid, we ended up having a long discussion about their effectiveness.

We were sitting out on his patio and the birds were singing. I asked him if he could hear the birds, and he said he had not been able to hear the birds singing for a long time. I have a type of hearing aid that is easily removed, so I took mine off, put a fresh end piece on it, and let him try it out. Unfortunately, by the time I did all this the birds had quit singing. However, when he put the hearing aid on, he was amazed and said that he was hearing the birds sing clearly. It took a moment for me to realize that the birds had not stopped singing when I removed the hearing aid from my ear, I had just stopped hearing them.

During this season of Lent, we journey with Jesus to the cross. As we do, we remember how abandoned and alone Jesus felt during those difficult days. In the midst of His suffering, He called out to God from the cross, “Why hast Thou forsaken me.” However, we know that Jesus was not abandoned nor forsaken by God.

As we reflect upon Jesus’s struggle, we can’t help but think of the times in this life that we too have felt abandoned by God and alone. At moments like this we might ask ourselves, has God abandoned us or have we abandoned God? We may have stopped listening for His word or watching for His activity in our lives. Perhaps the discipline of Lent can help us turn up our listening and our noticing so that we begin again to feel God’s presence and activity in our lives.

This article originally appeared in the Feb. 26, 2016, issue of the Norwegian American Weekly. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.