Have you ever thought about how we perceive sound? The ear is responsible for hearing sounds and assisting with balance.
Humans have a visible outer ear. Inside the outer ear is the inner ear, which consists of the pinna. Once you go deeper into the ear, you go through the external auditory canal (Rtromans, 2017).
The auditory canal is the tube that connects the middle ear with the outer ear. From the external auditory tube, you will reach the eardrum. Now within the outer ear, there is the middle ear or what is called the tympanic cavity. Inside this cavity are three tiny bones that transmit sound waves to the inner ear (Rtromans, 2017).
These are called malleus, incus, and stapes. These bones take the sound that is heard from the outside and transmits them into the inner ear. The sounds then go through the eustachian tube, which is the canal that is within the middle ear (Rtromans, 2017).
Finally, once in the inner ear, the inner ear consists of the cochlea, vestibule, and semicircular canals. The cochlea is responsible for picking up the nerves for hearing. The vestibule and semicircular canals work for balance.
Ok, so now how do you hear? When sounds take place, the outer ear takes these sounds through the middle ear and finally into the inner ear.
Sound vibrations pass from the eardrum to the ossicles, which amplify the sound. They send the sound to the cochlea, converting electrical impulses to the brain (Rtromans, 2017).
The brain is then responsible for translating these impulses and determining what type of sounds they are.
What’s crazy enough is that the ear can distinguish different types of sound based on loudness, pitch, and frequency. The frequency of sounds is measured by how many sound cycles occur in a second.
The ear can only detect sound at specific frequencies. The loudness of sound reports in decibels. The magnitude of how these sounds project bases on how the brain perceives them through the ear canals. Once noises transmit to the cerebral cortex, the listener then becomes aware of the sound. You can imagine this whole process is all happening incredibly quickly.
Romans 10:17
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word about Christ.”
In this series, I want to talk about hearing and how that relates to our spiritual lives. To become a Christian or a Disciple, you have to hear the message. Whether understood or written, this message transmits into your brain and bears the fruit of some kind. It starts as a seed and begins to grow the faith within your heart, and that faith turns into action.
If it weren’t for this seed or hearing the message in the first place, it would have never been possible to have faith. That’s why, of course, it’s so necessary to spread the gospel and study the bible with as many souls as possible so that they too can have eternal life through Christ.
I want to focus on the hearing part. The biology of a seed is incredible.
When a seed goes into the ground, three needs are met for a plant to arise. These three ingredients are water, temperature, and good soil.
Take one of these three components out, and there is no way that a plant has a chance to grow successfully.
The beautiful thing about plants and trees is that these majestic creations come from something so small. Yet, everything inside of that seed is enough to reach its full potential. If and when in the right environment.
The first thing that a seed does when in good soil, temperature, and plentiful water is sprout roots. These roots will grow deeper into the ground. Some will even grow longer than the plant itself.
The whole point of this is to build the foundation of the plant. Once the plant emerges from the soil and gets larger, it will withstand uncomfortable weather conditions like rain, snow, or sleet.
The beautiful thing about plants is that they grow their food for other life when nourished. Take a look at a tree and see the life within that tree. From the insects that use their resources or to the birds that lay their nest. Even to the squirrels that sleep and hibernate during the winter. A tree is beaming with life.
When light reaches good soil, photosynthesis takes place. Photosynthesis is the process that the plant will use to convert the energy of the light into the nutrients in which it will use for food. Water is a crucial component to the growth of the roots of a plant. And soil allows the plant to be in a space where it can grow and extend its roots.
The fantastic thing about seeds is that scientists are still trying to understand how this transformation is happening withinside the seed. I mean to think that you put a seed in the dirt, give it water, and the sunlight is all it takes for it to grow is fantastic!
These three ingredients are needed to convert the enzymes within the seed to produce and start sprouting the roots.
When you think of the ear, understand that the things you listen to are like seeds. The choice for humans is to choose what to listen to because it can form a seed within our minds that will impact how we think, and therefore ultimately, how we act.
Being aware of what we choose to listen to in terms of music, news, or friends allows us to react appropriately to our environment. That keen sense of discerning can nurture our thoughts and the way that we think.
When the bible talks about faith, the Word of God is indeed like a seed. We hear and listen to it. It travels through our ear canals, and our brain transmits the information.
Therefore, that Word can penetrate our hearts and minds and help us think of the world differently. What happens is that we start to see the world, not through our own eyes but God’s eyes.
This view can build withinside our subconscious mind and slowly grow into our actions.
Once action happens, faith is activated.
Faith comes from sharing the message; the message comes to form the Word of God. The Word of God is the seed in which penetrates our thoughts, and the actions that come from our spiritual awareness build this faith in which we can use to grow closer to God.
Again, what is beautiful about trees is that they can give so much life to others once nourished. As Christians, through the Word, we are called to give.
John 15: 1-17
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Next time you hear a sound, remember how it can penetrate your mind. Next time you think of a seed, remember how it can penetrate the ground. Both sound and seed produce a product. When you hear the Word of God, do you think about it as a form of penetrating your heart? Do you think about the vines that grow from that seed that spread out for you to love others just as God has loved you? What could God be telling you in your life right through listening to what is around you?
References
Rtromans. “The Eyes: Protecting Sight.” Sightsavers, Sightsavers, 18 Dec. 2017, www.sightsavers.org/protecting-sight/the-eyes/.