Hearing Aids and Persistence

Today I came into possession of some hearing aids mostly, or perhaps wholly due to the persistence of my wife. We have been working on this project for what seems like a decade or two. It has taken this much time due to my resistance.

I am curious about what has made me so resistant to wanting to get hearing aids all these years. And what has made my wife so persistent in wanting me to get hearing aids?

I believe that we both want our marriage to succeed, and it has for more than fifty years.

So why did we struggle for so long with issues like the purchase of hearing aids?

One reason for me was the cost. I had heard that a good pair of hearing aids could cost a few thousand dollars. I have found that to be true. Also, I did not want the hassle of keeping track of something that appeared to take a lot of effort to maintain. But eventually the persistence of my wife won out and I am now the owner of some very expensive but effective hearing aids.

My wife has recently discovered that there is a possible link between hearing loss and the early stages of dementia. This is because people who have difficulty hearing often withdraw from having social interactions and eventually suffer from a total loss of community.

So, my resistance has been replaced with an acceptance of her persistence to do the very best for me.

The Bible has something to say on this subject of resistance and persistence. Jesus tells this parable of the persistent friend in Luke 11:5-10.

It seems that a man had a friend who came home from a journey and did not have any bread. It was midnight. So, this man whose friend had come home at midnight, went to his other friend’s house and requested three loaves of bread for the traveling friend. This other friend who was requested to supply the bread at first resisted. Then Jesus said that not because he was a friend but because of his persistence, he got up and gave him as many loaves as he requested.

It is interesting to note that Jesus shared this parable about persistence with His followers immediately after he had spoken what we call the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:2-4). You may recall the part of that prayer that instructs us to pray asking our Father in heaven “day by day for our daily bread.”  Now that is something we all can be persistent in doing.

This story is not complete without mentioning the next verse following Jesus’ story about the persistent friend. Jesus instructs His disciples to: “ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9-10).

Why was I so resistant to getting hearing aids? Let me confess that I was too proud to admit that I needed “aid.” Why was my wife so persistent that I got hearing aids? I believe it was because she believed that no matter what the cost it the best for me would be.

Jesus has something far more valuable than anything that we can possess in this world. He explained it best in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Ron Gaudio, Chaplain