LISTENING- Gift of Love

It is love in action. It has nothing to do with judging, or agreeing, or even liking. It is about understanding, and the spirituality of presence. It is about just being there for another person. To listen is to love.

 

Listening is patient; with children who ask

endless questions, with friends who

just need to talk, with grandparent

who tells the same story over and over again.

 

Listening is kind; it appreciates the trust

of a secret, it responds in compassion

to the pain of another,

it accepts the need of another

to share his or her story.

 

Listening is not jealous of the

accomplishments or

happiness of others.

 

Listening is not snobbish. It  does

not put on airs. It does

not criticize the grammar while

missing the message.

It seeks to communicate.

 

Listening is never rude. It does not judge

what is in the heart, or mind, of another.

It seeks to understand.

One who is listening hears only

the words spoken, not

the words in his own mind that

are waiting to be spoken.

 

Listening is not prone to anger;

but recognizes the struggle

of another as they seek to

manifest their thoughts,

and feelings.

 

Listening does not rejoice in

what is wrong, but rejoices in the

truth, and, when hearing it,

affirms all who speak it.

 

Listening is a love that fills

us with the thoughts of

another. It has the calming

rhythm of a rocking chair,

not the frantic pace of

a multi-tasking society.

 

It is interesting to think that if we take the risk of just listening to another person, and reflect on what we hear, we might just realize that we do in the simple act of listening will live on long after us in the hearts and minds and lives of all those who will remember that we listened.