Luke 4:14-21  

Echo [Ronin], a deaf superhero

Hearing is one of our senses, along with seeing, tasting, smelling, and touching.

Now, let me ask—how many of you are deaf or have a close family member or friend who is deaf?

As a hearing person, I am amazed at how in tune deaf people are with their surroundings and also, how well they communicate with others across a wide range of cultures and languages.

Case in point–my Grandpa M. He was deaf for most of his life. He read lips. I remember as a kid that when we talked with Grandpa, we needed to make eye contact, to face each other. I also remember reading the closed captioning on the TV and thinking that was cool. But to be honest, I never felt hindered in my conversations with him. In fact, to this day I still feel that my Grandpa sometimes communicated more effectively than we did. My grandpa used body language and facial expressions to communicate, as well as his words.

Deafness, unfortunately, is often viewed by hearing people as a deficiency rather than a separate linguistic context, worldview and culture, which people of the deaf community would like us to know that it is.

I asked my friend Jamie Lynn Hill, a freelance ASL interpreter, about her years of working with the deaf community. This is what she shared:

Body language and facial expressions are heavily integrated in their language and in the signs themselves so they’re used to REALLY looking at someone when they speak. Both because they HAVE TO (they can’t hear them) and because sometimes the sign alone doesn’t convey the full feeling, so you have to pay attention to the whole thing. And, as a side note, because you have to LOOK AT ONE ANOTHER to talk, you can’t be on the phone, or watching TV, or surfing Facebook and just be nodding and “uh-huh”ing. And I think that that also makes them better communicators and closer to one another. They always have each other’s full attention. 
Secondly, they really say what they mean. The double speak we use in English doesn’t translate into ASL the same way. It translates into a much more direct and clear statement. You are never left wondering how a deaf person “really feels about you”. Their community is unique in that they are very quick to let you in and share their lives but they can also be very passionate and very protective of themselves and their community. It almost seems like they went so long without having people to communicate easily with that they don’t have time to waste playing games. They want to talk, and share, and be involved in each other’s lives and if you’re willing to be a part of it, great, and if you’re not, fine.
In their history they spent a lot of time not being allowed to sign. Being in families that didn’t learn it, or allow them to learn it. Being shipped off to places for “disabled people” and it’s only in the last couple generations that they’ve been treated remotely like the rest of society. And I think as a result, they really value that communication with one another
And still I know, sadly, of a lot of people who are deaf–kids I’ve worked with, whose families don’t sign at home, and who therefore don’t have the same access to the everyday “how was school, how are you feeling” mundane conversation we take for granted. So when they find themselves surrounded by people they can fully express themselves to and understand back, they just don’t take it for granted.

Thanks, Jamie. What catches my attention is how deaf people have this ability to really listen.

Actually, did you know that research shows that only 7 percent of our personal messages are conveyed by words, 38 percent by tone of voice and 55 percent by facial expressions and body language? That is why nonverbal communication is so important.

See, we can get caught up in the 5 senses [especially hearing and seeing] and then look at others who are deaf or blind as having a disability. But if we do that, we are missing something. They are gifted. And they are often more in tune with their senses than we are. Our senses are miracles—especially when we pay attention to them. Those who are deaf can see more than we can imagine. Those who are blind can hear beyond what we think. Our senses are miracles when we use them.

So I want to try something. I’m going to say [write] less, and then let’s allow for our senses to be heightened, let’s be present in this very moment, and then let’s see what happens.

In Luke’s Gospel story, Jesus of Nazareth has become a teacher–his new profession. Jesus returned home to Nazareth, his home town to do some of that teaching just as he was doing in other synagogues outside of Nazareth. So Jesus read from one of the prophetic scrolls, this time Isaiah. He read famous words that everyone would have known—about an age of jubilee when justice would reign, and marginalized people would be welcomed back and healing would occur for many. Prisons would be emptied. People without sight would see, oppressed people would have freedom. He read from the scroll, rolled it back up, gave it to the synagogue attendant, and sat down.

Silence. People stared at him. Their body language anxious, curious, wondering. What would he say? How should they react?

Silence.

Until—just a few words.
“Today this has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
By simply hearing it—fulfillment.

But what does it mean to truly hear and see it fulfilled in action, in living?

Is it enough to just hear, or do we need to lean in, make eye contact, read lips, facial expression, body language, gestures?

Is intimate hearing actually active listening? Not just using our ears to hear, but our eyes to see, our tongues to taste, our hands to touch, and our noses to smell? To take it all in—to truly sense and be present. So that, in the act of being fully present, and aware and awake, we process what was said/expressed, and then it changes us.

May we learn from all the gifted, incredible people in the deaf community. May we recognize our lack of listening skills. May we put down our phones and turn off our devices. May we look each other in the eyes or read lips, or notice body language and facial expressions.

May we actively listen to each other.

Any time of jubilee and justice–an era during which the marginalized are welcomed and balance is restored will only happen if we listen to each other.