“Am I Listening? (Part II)”

Friday, October 1, 2021

Greetings, Lord’s Beloved –

It is my pleasure to share the Selah blog post for Friday, October 1, in part two of our series entitled, “Am I Listening?”  In the September 24 Selah Posting, we focused on the first part of actively listening, attention.  Today, we consider hearing.

I mentioned in last week’s blog the article by Richard Nordquist (updated January 6, 2019; thoughtco.com) on “The Definition of Listening and How to Do It Well,” as the basis of this blog article series.  I want share his definition of listening again:, which is: 

“the active process of receiving and responding to spoken (and sometimes unspoken) messages.  It is one of the subjects studied in the field of language arts and in the discipline of conversation analysis.”

Using the foundation established last week, we determined that in order to genuinely listen, we must first give our full attention to the person that is speaking.  If we do not, we will miss important parts of the speaker’s message.  In all relationships—husbands and wives, parents and children, friends, managers and their teams, etc.—giving our attention says that we value and respect the person that is speaking enough to pause and listen!  Their voices matter!

In the Christmas song written and composed in October 1962 by Gloria Shayne and Noël Regney respectively, there is a question posed by “the little lamb to the shepherd boy”:  “Do You Hear What I Hear?”  (If you are automatically singing along, no worries, so was I!)  Of course, what is described as “ringing through the sky” is “a song,” which is “high above the trees”; and it has “a voice as big as the sea.” 

According to Wikipedia, the lyricist and composer wrote the song in response to the Cuban missile crisis and the threat of war.  So what does it take for us to be able to hear?  Must their be some threat or other fear-generating crisis for the Lord to get our attention (enough for us to truly hear Him)?  When was the last time we checked our ability to hear?

The Lord is still speaking to us—through His Word, the Holy Spirit, each other, and nature.  But what am I hearing?  Who is the source of what I am hearing?  Is my spiritual auditory sensory perception in line with what the Holy Spirit wants us to know?

I can recall throughout grammar and secondary school, college and graduate school, whenever my teacher was speaking, I wanted to make sure I could hear.  Especially after I got older and matriculated through graduate school, I was serious about being able to hear every word my teacher was lecturing about at the time.  I sat in the front row, ensured I took copious notes, and did not want to be distracted by my peers.  Hearing was important to my understanding and success!  The failure to hear accurately can take us down a path that leads us in the wrong direction, and which takes years to recover!  The Bible has much to say about hearing; here are several examples:

• “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
• “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”  (Luke 8:15
• “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you hear His Voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.” (Hebrews 3:7-8)
• “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:18)
• “He who has an ear , let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:22)

There is a direct correlation between living wisely (the ability to live life skillfully) and hearing!  While these are not the only things, they are a necessary part of the journey.  What does it require for us to hear each other?  To hear our Lord?  Time?  Attention?  Care?  Concern? 

We show that we are engaged in hearing God and each other when we:

• Dedicate the time necessary to hear.
• Put down our cell phones and turn off the television.
• Give our full attention to what is being said.
• Show our genuine care and concern.

With the Lord and with each other, this is what we, as believers, are dedicated to do!

Am I hearing what I need to hear in order to listen well?  Hmm….Let me see…. (or rather, let me hear!)

Until next time, My Friend,

Selah

www.voiceandfaith.com

Note:  The article referenced by Richard Norquist is based on author Marvin Gottlieb and the elements of good listening:  attention, hearing, understanding, and remembering.