Quick to Listen

 

As I walked through the neighborhood, seeing what there might be to see, I was instead struck by the sounds I heard. In my short walk, I was aware of the many sounds of summer. In just one block I twice heard the steady click-click-click of sprinklers watering the lawn. This brought back memories of the hot Arkansas summers of my childhood. Playing in the sprinkler was big fun in those days.

I also heard the sound of a lawnmower, which in the summer is the constant soundtrack of our streets. I heard the conversation between father and daughter as they rode past, one on a big bicycle and one on a tiny one. The little girl was obviously enjoying her time with daddy. I heard the clatter of who knows what as people worked in back yards and garages, getting ready for summer. I heard the raucous call of birds filling the trees with movement and life. Yes, the sounds of summer were everywhere.

We read in the book of James, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”. Isn’t it interesting that the first of these three admonitions is that we should listen? I can’t imagine a glimpse of living that is more in contrast to the culture in which we live at this moment. We seem to seldom listen, except perhaps to voices that affirm the opinions we already hold. We seem to spend the time while others speak, not listening, but planning what we are going to say next, never really giving our attention to the other person. Too often we interrupt the words of others in order to hear the sound of our own voice. And the anger part? We live in a time where angry is the default setting of far too many.

The cure for this situation lies in the listening. If we are “quick to listen”, we will hear the sounds of our shared humanity. Like the sounds of summer I heard on my walk, the thoughts and words of others will help us find our connection with our neighbors through the struggles, hopes and fears we have in common. Listening results in the discipline of being “slow to speak”. When we truly hear another person, we are doing more than planning what we will say next. Then anger subsides, for we are reminded through our listening that the world is not just about me and my opinion and that others have experiences very different from mine. And that is when, even in the midst of difficult and challenging times, we can hear the voice of God.

Peace.