Stop, Listen... Love

I have found that I like listening to people. I mean really listening... attending to variations in tone, body language and facial expressions. Not just checking to make sure my ears still work.

It is a most 'absorbing' exercise.

I started making the effort deliberately, because I know how it feels to be heard rather than listened to. And I began to think that maybe - just maybe - I could extend a courtesy that is sometimes not accorded me...

And the world could change...

One conversation at a time.

You see, I have been blessed with a strong voice. It is the kind of voice you just cannot help noticing. The kind that arrests your attention although you know for sure that your attention ought to be elsewhere. It is not shrill or coarse, just firm and clear (even in spite of a slight lisp). It gives the impression that I wield more authority than I really do, so I make an attempt to tame it for the sake of those who may not understand... and come to the conclusion that it is contrived rather than inherited.

You have heard that version before.

But sometimes I forget.... and people hear, assign motives and draw conclusions that could have been avoided if they had really been listening.

I learn a lot about people by listening.

If I had to share the most important thing I gleaned, it would be this: The last thing that is said is often the most important. If I bolt (and draw conclusions) at the first sense of discomfort - I could miss many an opportunity to be used by God to minister to deep-seated pain.

I am glad that my Heavenly Father listens intently. He answers before I call because He is intimately acquainted with every fibre of my being. No flicker of the eyelid or quiver of the lip escapes His Divine gaze. No tear falls unnoticed.

He hears. He responds. He loves unconditionally.

Oh, that I could be more like my Father!

Lend a listening ear, today... will you?

Blessings,