Listen Deeply
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. James 1:19 (ESV)
“I heard you the first time!”
“I told you so.”
“Huh?”
“Why are you telling me this again?”
“What did you say?”
We listen to people talking but do we hear their words? Do we really know how to listen or are we just being polite?
Last Saturday morning we had the pleasure of watching my nephew being inaugurated as Heston College president. One of the speakers used these two words to describe Mark and said it was a rarity. “He listens deeply.” There were many other kind and loving words but those two stuck out to me. That is a trait that I would like to have.
Listening deeply probably means something different to each of us, so this is just my own personal interpretation. I hear the words with my ears and stop what I’m doing to focus on the person speaking. If I’m on the phone, I don’t play games and if I am face-to-face, I try to feel what they are talking about. Do I have this skill perfected? Absolutely not!
Instead of hearing with our hearts, we tend to assume things about the conversation. Making mental notes but never asking questions, we are too busy making our shopping list or wondering how we will make up the lost time from the interaction. And Lord help us if we don’t agree or can see all kinds of faulty thinking. Can we fake it? Sure! We are good at pretending but sooner or later, reality hits. We find that we have missed precious moments.
We are also skilled at filling the silence. Having all the answers and fixing things should never appear on our resume.
If indeed we are listening deeply, we must admit that it cannot be just about us. Out of Christian love and compassion, it must be about the other person. What is “it”? Respect, attitude, relationship, and simple caring about our brothers and sisters rings loud and clear.
It’s not our ears that need to be checked, but our hearts that need attention.
Oh, by the way, are you listening deeply to what the Father is saying? Perhaps that is the ultimate test.
Loving Lord, thank You for our ability to hear others. Please teach us to listen deeply to You and them. Help us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. AMEN.