Interim Rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Fr Carl Williams says there are people in society who are “deaf to the dignity of all human beings when we show favouritism and make distinctions based upon appearance, wealth and status.”
He made the comment during his homily at yesterday’s thanksgiving service in observation of the 75th Diamond Jubilee of The Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired (TTAHI). It was held at the offices of Dretchi, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
Williams said, “Hearing and deafness are not determined by our ears, but by what’s in our heart; the way we love and relate to one another. The old Verizon commercial—‘Can you hear me now?’—reminds us that it is all about the connection. So it is for the man in today’s gospel. So it is for us as well.”
He said he could not help but wonder if spiritual deafness isn’t one of the primary causes of conflict in marriages and families, in relationships with one another, in the nation, and in the world.”
He said deafness destroys relationships.
He added, “We are deaf when we become self-occupied and self-enclosed because of pride, anger, jealousy, or the refusal to forgive another. We are deaf to our spouse and children when we are too busy or too self-important.”
He said regardless of how it comes about, the tragedy of spiritual deafness is that the connection is broken.
‘We can no longer hear the voice of God or another person. The only voices we hear are the ones in our heads. The only conversation we have is with ourselves. Spiritual deafness is ego-centered. When we are spiritually deaf we assume that ours is the only or the most important voice to hear. We are cut off from God and other people. We are closed to new ideas, understandings, and experiences.”
He urged the nation to reflect on the role TTAHI has played by “providing a space for so many whom society had, and continues to close their hearts and minds to because they appeared different.”
The association was established on July 29, 1943, over which the Honourable A. B. Wright, the then Deputy Governor of Trinidad and Tobago presided. An article to that fact was published by the T&T Guardian on July 30, 1943.