Have you considered how often we take the senses for granted? Granted, we could possible function happily without smell and taste, but what of sight, touch and sound? Touch would be terrible to lose; sight would be devastating to lose, but sound would be maddening. 

Life without sound: No humming, whirring, or droning of the city. No chirping, babbling, or buzzing of the woods. No music. I could not maintain my sanity. Born without hearing is one thing, but to have it and lose it? I would not recover. 

Music is undeniably intrinsic to our manifold expression of self. It is something that transcends existence; that communicates a grand truth that brings us into a communion of peace. Tranquility, solace, even renewal is found in music. To lose that?! Incomprehensible. 

To be forever imprisoned in deafening silence; to be tormented by your deepest turmoil without expression or  fulfillment in a form that permeates the deepest core of being. Unfathomable. To feel the burning of insurmountable sorrow without release of self into a form of ethereal repose, or to succumb to billows of love for another  and be unable to hear their voice. Unable to melt under the soothing tone of their soft voice. 

Even the sound of silence itself is a sound, but the inability to hear would even void this unsettling friend. 

Oh the bliss! The unparalleled rapture of the ocean crashing against the shore. The soothing balm of a gentle rain on a spring night. The crushing awe of a thunderstorm reigning over the plain. The insufferable, sweet sorrow of a soft piano, or violin’s lament. The uncontrollable energy of drum beating in syncopation of a bright cornet’s discourse. The sweeping inspiration of the wind cascading across the mountains and vales.

I cannot comprehend, nor wish to entertain the thought–the inescapable weight of permanent silence.    . 

“How can I convince someone to avoid the bomb in their path, if I am not convinced that bomb is dangerous for me?”—Rev. David Davis

We are real good at noticing each other’s faults—we see them all the time. After all, to err is human, and we err…a lot. We also know how to call someone out, at least we think we do, when we see a brother stumble. We call them out because it isn’t what they ought to do, and when asked what the deal is we usually respond, “that’s not what you need to be doing”, or perhaps, “That’s not good”. These generic statements do nothing to deter someone from an action; it may stop them there, but it won’t halt the action/attitude from occurring again. We recognize that sin is an issue, a bomb if you will, but we don’t take it seriously enough to take action. How can we convince someone to avoid the bomb in their path, if we are not convinced that bomb is dangerous for us?

I  Corinthians 9.27 “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should become disqualified.” (ESV)

Imagine you are a scout for a military troop. Your job is to survey the road ahead for ambushes, obstacles, etc. This particular venture you stumble upon a bomb. Your training tells you to let the unit know of the ordinance in the path; but it doesn’t seem active, you may even try defusing it. No! You tell the unit to avoid it at all costs, not just side step it, but change routes. Why do we attempt to belittle the bombs in our own life? We think that a particular sin is manageable, or that it can be side stepped, but a bomb has an extensive blast radius. So too, sin cannot be side-stepped or be treated as insignificant; we need to deal with it properly, and treat it for what it is, a bomb. Of course, you can’t defuse a bomb unless you are trained to do so; you cannot diffuse sin, God is the one equipped to handle that. We must turn over our sin to the one that can diffuse it, our job is to identify it, and seek its diffusion.

Keep yourself under discipline or else how can you convince someone of the bombs on their path?