A student had a eureka moment. Key to care and counsel, he wrote, is listening. His words warmed my instructor’s heart. He was not saying, only listen. Instead, he gave listening a place of prominence in daily life.
I know another man who was a pastor. He asked his wife the same question every year: “If I could change one thing, what would it be?” Every year his wife had the same response: “You don’t listen.”
I just asked my wife if I listen. She responded “yes . . .[ten second pause] fairly well.” I decided to stop there, before she thought more about it and descended into “no.” Confession and repentance, for me, will have to be essential if I am going to grow as a listener.
How often do we need to be told to be better listeners? The exhortation can seem trite from overuse, or trite because we think we know how to listen—but we don’t listen well. So much of what might appear as listening is little more than one person presenting a personal concern and the other person, in response, presenting a personal concern on a similar topic.
Try to remember the last time
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