In the last few days I have received a new pair of glasses and hearing aids.  God provides our needs.  One way He makes it possible is through technology.  Ever since Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, we have been given the gift of knowledge.  From that we derive our science and technology.  It is a two-edged sword.

Technology can be used for bad or good purposes.  One good use is for making better hearing aids.  I have a severe to profound hearing loss.  It means I don’t hear with clarity for things like human speech.  A critical band of frequencies within normal human speech is gone.  Simply making sounds louder won’t help.  It can’t be brought back by hearing aids although my new aids can shift some sounds from my missing frequencies to those I can hear.  Maybe by a cochlear implant I could hear all frequencies, but at my age I do not want to drive down that technological road.

I also got new glasses.  It is always good to update my prescription so I can see near and far, and to easily read.  Compared to hearing aids, glasses are very simple.  Hearing aids are very complex.  Everything is miniaturized.  Because I have a profound loss, I need the most powerful models.  I don’t get to have some of the “cool” technology like smart phone connectivity.  I can’t use my smart phone to adjust the volume or tweak some range of sounds.  You only get those in very weak hearing aids like the kind you wear completely in the ear.

Still, I cannot complain.  My new ones are much better than my old ones.  Unfortunately, my hearing deteriorated so instead of improving my overall hearing, it is stabilized. God provides only what I need.

I was able to try out my new hearing aids in a restaurant.  Check.  I got out my electric keyboard and played some classical music like Chopin and Bethoven.  Check.  I had no problem in church with the crowd noise.  Check.  So, I’m back in business with respect to being able to hear well enough to function in the hearing world.  But, will my new aids help me with my Deaf friends?  No.  I must continue pray for help with signing to my Deaf friends.  I’m older now, and as they say, “Hard to teach an old dog a new trick”, but I keep trying, and God will provide.