When someone starts to lose their hearing, it is hard to communicate with them. There are devices that can help the hard of hearing to hear better but there can come a time when the hearing loss advances to a point that there is no way to improve or restore it. Comprehending is directly related to our ability to hear. This is true not only in audible sound waves but in matters of truth and deception.

Recently I was talking to a friend and we were on opposite sides of an issue. I do not want to insinuate that I was 100 percent right. However, as we continued our conversation, it was obvious that he was not hearing what I was trying to say to him.

This particular person is industrious and self-sufficient. I would try to appeal to his common sense and reasoning, which he possesses, and he would reply with the same negative answer. It did not matter which way I approached the issue his answer was the same. I then changed the subject and found the same prevailing negative resistance. He was standing there in person, but he was not hearing a word I said.

His view of the matter was defined in his mind and he had closed out every other possibility. He had heard it a certain way and accepted that way as absolute. There was no consideration, or desire, for questioning whether the issue was truth or deception. He had accepted and swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. He was going to live and die by his conviction without regard to fact or fiction.

If someone says something, does that make it true? If we believe somethings with all of our heart does that make it right? How can we have the ability to know the truth; or does it really matter? Does knowing the truth really make any difference?

These and other life questions will be addressed Sunday morning as “The Gathering Place Family” meets in the Washington Junior High School Library for Bible Study at 9 a.m. and in the gymnasium at 10 a.m. for our Pre-Service Connection where we enjoy coffee, juice and donuts. Our Worship Service and Children’s Church then begins at 10:30. Come at 7 p.m. and be part of our Wednesday night Bible Study and Children’s Ministry on the third floor above Trends at 120 W. Court St. in Washington Court House.