Have You Heard – Or Haven’t You?

Have you heard about the man who stole 10 bars of soap from a supermarket? He made a clean getaway… or the man who put on a clean pair of socks every day of the week? By Friday he could hardly get his shoes on.

‘Have you heard?’ can start a joke.

‘Have you heard? Darren’s in hospital.’ Iain phoned me the other day, asking about our mutual friend who’s been unwell for some years…

‘Have you heard?’ can express concern.

‘Have you heard? There’s an offer on power tools…’ The latest advertisement from Screwfix was trying to persuade me to buy a new drill or jigsaw…

‘Have you heard?’ can announce an offer.

‘Have you heard? That’s a nuthatch?’ I was walking through the woods with my friend Tim yesterday. We didn’t see a nuthatch, but Tim recognised and picked out the sound.

‘Have you heard?’ can be about careful listening.

‘Haven’t you heard? I asked you to make that phone call!’ Rachel had suggested on a number of occasions. I had ‘other priorities’ and had put it off.

‘Haven’t you heard?’ can be an expression of frustration.

Haven’t you heard what I said? On Sunday our son Andrew and his partner Emily visited us. Andrew’s an audiologist; he brought his equipment to test our hearing. Our hearing is declining. He’s advising us to get hearing aids…

‘Haven’t you heard?’ can be about my hearing!

‘Haven’t you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak…’

This ‘Haven’t you heard’… isn’t a joke… It’s an expression of God’s concern for us, an offer that requires careful listening… I know that God’s infinitely patient, but perhaps sometimes God gets frustrated with me because I’m not too good at listening… perhaps I need to get and put on my spiritual hearing aid…