Here is a piece I recently incorporated into a sermon. I was preaching on Becoming the Body of Christ: The Ears of Christ ~ Hearing as Jesus Hears. I thought this fit right in:
Listening
November 1992
A friend told me that she was conversing with a group when it dawned on her that each one was only waiting a chance to talk. No-one at all was listening.
Most of us has a real longing to be heard, hoping that by being heard we’ll be better understood. Of course if we’re to be better understood some one has to be listening.
Sometimes I get tired of listening to other people talk! Once I interrupted a “talker” with an opinion of my own but there was no satisfaction in it. The “listener” has to be willing to listen, and most of the time I am, and I’ll tell you why. I have been listened to.
Some-one once asked me a question. I had to dredge the answer up from past unhappy years and tears began to flow. I was made to feel that it was all right and they were patient and listened and I felt heard and comforted. Sometime it’s not easy to express feelings and thoughts and if you listen carefully and with understanding you might hear something that no-one else has ever had the privilege to hear.
