An alarm in the hospital room I am visiting obnoxiously and persistently signifies apparently nothing, but does make it equally impossible and inevitable to think of Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron. In that dystopian short fiction, the United States Handicapper General uses a variety of techniques to ensure no one has an advantage over another. The title character’s father is George, with an advantage to be eliminated. “And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” In this hospital room, he could have removed it with no fear of abusing his edge.
Justice speaks to every conscience: “…the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” (Romans 2)
Beauty resonates throughout creation: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8)
Truths formerly hidden stare directly at us in the Spirit: “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2)
Everything everywhere speaks to us. Our ears are set to hear. Repetitive, monotonous sharp sounds—pride, pain, fear, anger, craving—are what prevent us from listening.
This week, may our hearts and minds attend to the openly expressed will, wonder, and words of God.