Sometimes I feel like Tommy...

You know….The Who….1969…rock opera. Ok, so I’m probably giving away my age a bit, but the story revolves around a “deaf, dumb and blind kid”. What, pray tell, is the correlation between this character and me? God’s will. Often times I feel just like a “deaf, dumb and blind kid” when it comes to knowing God’s will for me.

I tend to intellectualize things when I ought to be listening to my heart. I tend to act on pure emotions when I ought to be more thoughtful. I use ‘what I want’ as motivation when I should be praying in patient faith and waiting for God’s guidance; sadly I end up feeling like a “deaf, dumb and blind kid” all over again.

Does this sound like a familiar dilemma for anyone? We all go through it and, for some us, go through it a lot. The good news is…this doesn’t mean we’ve fallen from grace. This doesn’t mean we’re completely selfish. This doesn’t mean we bring shame to God. What it does mean, though, is communicating with God is a learned process.

To continue with the “Tommy” analogy: He ends up excelling at pinball where his handicaps become the very foundation of his learned skill. The things which hindered his abilities forced him to utilize a deeper, more instinctual approach to succeeding. Now if that isn’t an analogy we can take straight to our prayer life, I don’t know what is.

In the opera he ends up victorious…able to hear, speak and see because of his achievement. Now I’m not saying our prayer life or relationship with God will have a story-book ending...but it certainly does give some perspective on how we all struggle with our communication skills, our goals and our relationships.

I’m hoping the next time I feel like that “deaf, dumb and blind kid” I’ll keep in mind that the ultimate composer of life is patient, understanding, and unconditionally loving. I will continue to seek God’s will; and I’m certain I won’t find it because of my skills per se, but rather my openness to hearing and listening and not limiting myself to my own abilities.

Greg Morton
© July 13, 2009