The Peacemaker's Path by Jerry Zehr

Author:Jerry Zehr [Zehr, Jerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL025000 Religion / Ecumenism & Interfaith, OCC019000 Body, Mind & Spirit / Inspiration & Personal Growth, REL036000 Religion / Inspirational
Publisher: Broadleaf Books

The theme of “Loving Others” is a central tenant in all major religions. We will explore six aspects of this concept: listening, empathy, compassion, generosity, encouragement, and forgiveness. These characteristics can help us build healthy relationships and grow in our spiritual lives.

Day Twenty-Two

Listening

When you watch any of the news stations on TV these days, it’s hard to hear what anyone is saying. Everyone is busy trying to make their point, interrupting the other person. It seems like no one wants to listen to another person’s point of view anymore. If we are to bring healing to our polarized world, we need to learn how to listen to one another.

Jed Harris was a successful producer of plays. One of his successful works was the production of Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town. In the middle of a long season, mixed with the intense pressure of many details, Harris began to lose his sense of hearing. He could not hear what other people close to him were saying, and so he was missing crucial details during conversations.

As a result, Jed Harris decided to pay a visit to a renowned audiologist, who listened attentively as the producer narrated the sad account of his declining ability to hear. After a thorough examination of Harris’s ears, the hearing specialist drew out from his vest an expensive gold-coated pocket watch and placed it against the producer’s ear.

“Do you hear this watch ticking?” the audiologist asked.

“Absolutely,” the producer responded.

The audiologist moved farther away and held the watch up to his office door. Harris focused and remarked, “Yeah, it is quite audible.”

The physician then walked into the next room and asked, “How about now?”

“It’s still audible,” Harris replied.

The specialist stalked back into the office and returned the watch to his vest. “This phenomenon is quite commonplace,” he said, “especially among successful individuals. Your hearing is excellent, Mr. Harris. You’ve simply quit listening.”

Do you know anyone like that? They don’t have a hearing problem, but they most certainly do have a listening problem.

The first thing we need to note is that listening is not the same as hearing.

Hearing refers to the sounds that enter your ears. It is a physical process that, provided you do not have any hearing problems, happens automatically. Listening, however, requires more than that: it requires focus and concentrated effort.

An eighty-year-old grandfather went to his daughter’s house for Sunday dinner. When the meal was over, he announced that he was going to take a walk through the neighborhood. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” he said. But two hours had passed before he finally returned. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “But I stopped to talk to an old friend, and he just wouldn’t stop listening.”

Some people will not stop talking, but blessed is the person who will not stop listening—what a beautiful gift to give to someone, to listen to them that intently. The highest honor you can pay someone is to listen to them. As David Augsburger once said, “An open ear is the only believable sign of an open heart.

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