316. Settling Into the Quiet
As a young child I had many ear infections, and it felt as though each time I had an infection it got bad enough that I would have to have ears lanced and the infection drained out. (This was a childhood prior to penicillin.) The repeated lancing resulted in a great deal of scar tissue and ultimately in a severe hearing loss.
I have gotten two hearing aids and they are doing the very best job they can. When I am in a place like my local church, I use their hearing assist and it enables me to hear quite well, except for those times that people don’t use the microphone.
But sometimes, no matter how hard I try, and no matter what systems I work it out to use, sometimes I just can’t hear. I have come to know that it’s o.k.—that quiet is a peaceful, wonderful thing.
People with good hearing are often trapped by sound and have to wait out the screaming child in a restaurant or in a line at the bank. I just remove one hearing aid and the screaming ceases. And I settle in, to the quiet.
