Featuring Guest Preacher, Rev. Gary Barbaree
Comment: Rev. Gary shared these words after the worship service later that week
The last Friday in October 2022, I woke up with total hearing loss in my right ear. The bundle of nerves in my inner ear was affected. I had dizziness, imbalance, and reduced spatial perception. Right away I saw my doctors, got good assessments and started treatments, including five weeks of daily hyperbaric oxygen chamber sessions. Inside the ear is where all of our sensory nerves coordinate the sense of balance and spatial perception. Loss of hearing and blurred vision are the most obvious symptoms but the impairment also has a language component. Last Sunday, I was able to prepare a sermon but I couldn’t preach. Partway through, I realized that I couldn’t put points in the sermon outline into proper sequences. I’m happy that this first attempt to preach happened with the Aldersgate congregation. I am well-known there, and I’m appreciated and supported. I didn’t feel embarrassed or even disappointed. But I do think it’s helpful to describe what was happening to me and why I had just to stop and wrap up my delivery. It was a good sermon, and I know that with Rev. Jon Visitacion’s help the message got through. And I look forward to upcoming worship and fellowship together. We are all blessed.
Salaam and Shalom, Aloha
Rev. Gary
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