As I write this, my right ear is totally blocked with wax.
Apparently, according to my doctor, I either have very small or very dry ear canals. Whatever.
These days they don’t just syringe the ear to dislodge the offending build-up. No. Now you have to wait two weeks to get a jet of water pumped into your ear. In those two weeks you’re supposed to, twice a day, lie on your side with an ear full of olive oil to soften up the wax in preparation for the actual event.
Because I’m me, I can’t stop myself from reaching the conclusion that having wax removed in this manner is actually sacramental.
Hear me out (pun intended).
One of the common definitions of a sacrament is a ‘visible sign of an invisible grace’. At the moment, my ear is blocked. The act of having an ear cleansed removes the blockage; opens up the pathway.; literally opens one’s ear to hear. Is this not a visible sign of the invisible grace that the Holy Spirit bestows upon us? Just as baptism is an image of the spiritual act of death and resurrection, having wax removed is an image of the renewing action of the Holy Spirit.
Plus, the procedure involves oil and water, two of the most sacramental aspects of creation.
Amen?
Amen!
OK, I’m only (partly) joking, but it does remind me of a more serious thought.
Namely, if you know how to look, you can find God everywhere in the day-to-day.
Try a little balsamic with the olive oil, perhaps a squeeze of lemon? These days they hoover them out, but just as sacramental, I’m sure!
That’s what someone else told me! You can imagine my displeasure when I heard it – it threatened to undermine my whole worldview. Thankfully when I had the job done they used a water pump. Perhaps we don’t have that level of suction technology in Kent yet.