Deaf and Mute

In my personal study of the scriptures, I examined Mark 7:31-37. This passage is a healing story. Jesus encounters a man who is deaf and suffers from a speech impediment. Jesus takes him aside, touches him and prays, "Be opened."

Obviously, the man was healed or there would be no story to tell. The literal meaning of the story is powerful. We depend on hearing and speech to such an extent that it would be difficult to imagine life without these abilities. To have these abilities restored, or experience them for the first time would be monumental. In Jesus time, life without speech or hearing must have been incredibly lonely.

Fortunately, time often brings progress. Therapies and technology have helped many with these same issues. Sign language, itself, has relaxed many of the barriers to communication, so much so, we often speak of "Deaf Culture.” Some argue that we should think in terms of difference, rather than disability. The cultural argument recognizes the existence of community and connection.

I don't really know what it means to be deaf and unable to speak. I do know what it means to be lonely and isolated. Jesus' words have resonance beyond the particulars of the story. When Jesus commands, "Be opened," the assumption is that something is closed.

There are numerous ways we are closed. As individuals, we have formative backgrounds and experiences that shape the way we see and hear. Through trial and error, each of us developed strategies to manage life. We tend to gather into groups that reinforce our individual choices, even if we are unaware of having made choices. Perspectives develop, opinions form, minds are made up and doors close.

What would it be like to examine the closed doors in our lives? Is it possible to examine who we are, what we think and remake choices? Can we be honest with ourselves that some of the doors we have closed make us residents of our own self-constructed prisons? When I am closed to you, I am closed to God. The promise of the Gospel: there is no door that cannot be opened.

Have a look at Father Matthew’s video below this entry. I think this is the story he is talking about telling.