Offering
the Gift of Listening
by
Scott Stoner
We all have had the experience of someone pretending to
listen to us. A common example of this
is when we are in a group gathering and the person we are talking with is busy
looking over our shoulder to see who they want to speak to next. Or when we
respond to someone who asks how we are doing with an honest answer, and they
change the subject because they don’t actually want to hear how we are really
doing. Neither of these experiences makes the speaker feel valued.
We have each also had the experience of someone offering
us the gift of their full attention and being truly present to us. In those
moments, we feel like the most important person in the world to the other
person, and we likely will remember that affirming experience for a long
time.
All of us know someone in our lives who could benefit
from the gift of our listening to them right now. Perhaps they are going
through a difficult time or are feeling alone. As we focus this week on
listening to our neighbor, perhaps each of us could reach out to a neighbor
near or far and offer them the gift of our full attention. The neighbor could
even be someone in our own family.
When we offer the gift of listening to others, to
paraphrase Maya Angelou, “they may not remember what we said or did, but they
will always remember how we made them feel.”
Making
It Personal:
Can you think of a time when someone listened to you with their full attention?
How did that make you feel?
To whom might you offer the gift of being fully attentive
today?
Living
Well Through Lent 2021
Copyright
©2021 Scott Stoner.
All
rights reserved.
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