In One Ear...

Spring Snow.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener

when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear

and out the other.  ACT on what you hear! 

Those who hear and don't act are like those who

glance in a mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have

no idea who they are, or what they look like.

James 1:22-24 [The Message]

My oldest daughter is obsessed with the TV show, The Voice.  Because I am a vocal coach, she thought that I would really appreciate a talent show that bills itself on judging solely on the basis of the voice  The concept worked well in the "blind auditions" where the judges listened to the singer with their backs turned to the performer.  But after that point, in the battle rounds and the live shows, the judging is based on total performance - voice, choreography, bells & whistles.

Last night, coach Blake Shelton took exception to what he believed was unnecessary distractions in the staging of performances.  The week previous he had disagreed with what he called "male strippers" as a part of the staging of a female singer, calling them an unneeded distraction.  This week, he again protested when the same "male strippers" were a major part of Erin Martin's Walk Like an Egyptian performance.  When contestant Jamar Rogers closed out the show with an amazing performance that included female guitarists playing on stilts, Blake said, "I know I'm going to be the only one up here who says it, but again..." and proceeded to complain about the distraction of the women on stilts.  Fortunately, the TV cameras did not concentrate on the stilt-walkers, but if you were sitting in the audience, I would agree that they would be a major distraction.  Trying to figure out how in the world they were doing that would have occupied many a mind, rather than listening to this young man's superior voice.  Blake made the point that he was too good of a singer to be drowned out by the distraction of "junk" [not his word, but a clean substitute] on the stage.

Human beings are not born good listeners, we are taught to be good listeners.  Simply listening is not a sought-after commodity in today's society.  We want to see, we want to be dazzled, we want to run our own mouths.  I have always believed that the reason that the music is so loud at concerts is to force us to listen through the distraction of everything else happening on stage and in the audience.  Obviously, Jamar Rogers was hoping that the television audience was listening to him: he wanted them to act on what they heard and vote for him to remain on the show.  Tonight's elimination round will reveal whether or not that happened.   

James stated that hearing God's Word has always been very important for the Christian.  Shutting out the distraction of the world is necessary in order to hear what God is saying.  Blake Shelton wanted Jamar's voice to be heard without disruption so that people would know how good he was and vote for him.  Similarly, God hopes that we heed His voice clearly through His Word, and then live our lives accordingly.