Scripture: Ezekiel 2:1-5
"You can't un-hear things", a wise mentor once told me. Feeling like the words you say to others go unheard can be maddening. But words spoken are never completely ineffective. Words can be run from. Words can be hid from. Words can be buried, repressed, stuffed down and ignored. But words can never be unheard.
God sent Ezekiel to God's people in their time of impudence and stubbornness. Maybe you know people like that. Maybe you love people like that. Maybe you are people like that (*raises hand sheepishly*). The good news of today's reading is that even when they (we, I) try to refuse to hear, it never really works. The very attempt to refuse a word is an acknowledgment of the power of that word and its truth which can devastatingly change us. Keep on speaking people of God. And, maybe, try your ear at hearing as well.
Prayer: God, it is so frustrating to feel unheard. Strengthen in me your power of trust that the words you give me are heard--and open my own ears to the words that I may be refusing. Amen.