Listening

This week I have been working on a class I am teaching on Leadership, and the session we are on has to do with listening - esp how well we actually listen to those around us and to God. It is one of those sessions that is good for me to teach because it reminds me of how I need to slow down and make time to listen - to family, friends, co-workers, and God.

Listening is not passive. It is now just sitting there when someone is speaking. But rather it is active. It is being engaged with the person you are with and truly hearing what that person is saying. There are too many times in all of our lives when we are preoccupied with other things going on that we do not give the attention needed to the person we are with.

And the same goes when listening to God. How often in our prayers do we spend the entire time just naming things off to God that we want changed, healed, or made different in some way? Part of prayer is active listening, making that time of silence available to actually hear what God is saying to us - because I truly believe that God is speaking, he is talking, to each of us. We just don't always hear what he has to say.

So today, I invite you to participate in active listening. Do it with family, friends, whoever you are with. Show them how important they are to you by being fully engaged in what they say. And do the same with God. Turn of the TV, computer, radio, whatever it may be, and spend some time listening to what God may be saying to you today.