The Art Of Listening

I met with some college buddies for lunch today. During the course of conversation, one took out his phone and began responding to text messages. I asked if our conversation bored him. He told me he heard all previously said. He recounted the first part of the discussion nearly word for ward. Afterward, I asked him, "What was said next." He stammered and then said, "You got me. I don't know."

We talked about everything from education, debt , parenting, ministry stuff along with church planting and church revitalization. Needless say, lunch lasted longer than an hour. We had not all been together in years.  We had much to catch up on sine we last met.

I listened a lot today. My friends had plenty to say and in the back of mind I kept thinking about some scripture from James. "This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;" [James 1:19]

It seems everyone wants to be heard, but few want to listen. Opinions are expressed by news pundits, celebrities, politicians, the wealthy and special interest groups. It appears nobody is listening to anyone else. Listening is an art. It is one thing to hear words. It is another thing to understand what the other person is communicating.

You stand face to face with another person and tune out the words being spoke n to you. Ask any parent with young children. Or ask anyone who works in the public sector dealing with people all day long. Especially critical people. It is a whole other thing to give another person your undivided attention and make them feel what they are saying is important to you and that you are interested. Also, much can be learned by listening. You never know when someone might drop a nugget of truth you can hang onto.

We all need to be quicker to listen and slower to speak. Being slow to anger is another topic for another day. The focus for today is working hard at listening to others. Really concentrating on what they have say instead of formulating your response. Lord, please help us learn to be good listeners.