Reflection:  The principle of selective hearing

Have you ever spoken with someone who has been watching Netflix, or reading a good book, or simply absorbed in his own thoughts, and not received any reaction from him? Why? Because he has ‘tuned out’ your voice and ‘tuned into’ the voice of Netflix, the book or the inner dialogue of his own thoughts. This phenomenon is called ‘selective hearing’ — the ability to sift out unwanted noise, to block that which we do not want to hear.

Any parent will bear witness to the selective hearing of children. Try this experiment while a child is watching television. First, try this sentence: “Does anybody want to help me wash the dishes?” Wait and see if there is a response. Then try this sentence: “Does anybody want ice cream?” Which do you think will get a reaction? Which sentence will the child hear?

Are we any different with God? We too tend to tune out that which we don’t want to hear but are suddenly alert when there’s something that tickles our ears. Part of the practice of learning to recognise God’s voice is choosing not to be selective in the subject of the voice, but to be selective in the person of the voice.

Selective hearing also works in another way. Do you remember the illustration we used of the crowded room full of strange voices? Let’s take this a step further. Imagine you are in the same room, engaging in idle conversation with somebody. But behind you, you hear the voice of your best friend (or spouse or parent or child) speaking with someone else. Even though you may be in apparent conversation with another person, you are more than able to tune that person’s voice out and tune into the familiar voice behind you, to the exclusion of all other noise in the room. This is selective hearing by choice.

This world is indeed a noisy place. Many ‘voices’ vie for your attention. But as you learn to recognise God’s voice you will also learn to tune in selectively to that voice, to the exclusion of other voices around you. You can do this by learning to ‘quiet your soul’ (Psalm 131:2, NRSV) as you pray and meditate upon God’s word, and as you engage in a continuing conversation with the Spirit of God.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, in this noisy world filled with competing voices, teach me to recognise and tune in selectively to your voice, filtering out the distractions around me. Help me to quiet my soul through prayer, meditation on your word, and ongoing conversation with your Holy Spirit. Help me not to have selective hearing.