Difficult to See

The game "Would You Rather" has a question, "would you rather be deaf or blind?" The purpose of the game is for people to consider choosing between two pretty equal things and for them to share a specific reason why or why not. This question is difficult unless you have some experience with someone who is either deaf or blind, then because of your personal experience, you are able to make a decision and feel passionate about it. When we make decisions, we typically weigh out pros and cons which help us determine the lesser of two evils or which one will give me more benefit or which one will be easier.

In my case, I choose I'd rather be deaf. I not only have experience with having a deaf friend growing up but I also had a girl in my youth group who I worked with and took on trips who was deaf. Additionally, I have a cousin whose daughter has a cochlear implant AND I happened to have hearing loss in both of my ears which have required surgery to repair. Before my surgery, not being able to hear was terrible, I didn't know what caused the hearing loss. I was withdrawn from conversations, I didn't engage with people because I was afraid I'd ask questions that had already been asked. I got really good at "listening" or at least good at acting like I was listening. After the surgery, ANY sound was overwhelmingly loud because my ears had to readjust to determine which sounds were important and which were not. It was quite an experience so when I"m asked the questions, deaf or blind? I choose deaf, I've got experience with it.

When it comes to praying to God, sometimes because we can't see or hear him, we can get discouraged. We want to be able to reach out to him and look him in the eyes, hold his hands and feel like he is really listening. This is where having a groups of friends whom you can talk about faith with or a scripture group comes in handy. You can together be affirmed that God does exist and is working in the world, even though we can't see him!