Listening

Can you hear what those you really need to hear from are saying?

Sometimes, I can’t.

Or, perhaps, won’t.  (That’s probably a more honest statement.)

And why do you think that is, Dave?

Well…probably because, more often than not, what's being said conflicts with something I really want.

Or think I want.

(BTW...the specifics of that which I “want,” be it something that I believe in and desperately want to be true, or something that I want to achieve or to obtain or to hold on to, is pretty much irrelevant where all of this is concerned.)

Desire—that which we really, really want—has a way of deafening us to those things that conflict with what we want, does it not?

For me, this is a constant and continuous struggle.  Is it for you, too?  Or am I alone in this?

I want so much in and out of life, you know?  And, for some things, I want them so badly that I will discount any messages that I feel in any way point to my NOT getting what I want.  Does this ever happen to you?

How many times in my life have I failed to listen to the naysayers and lived to regret it later?  Sometimes, years later?

Too many times, I’m afraid.

But not this time, my friends.  NO!!  This time, things will be different, for I have decided that God is in the naysayers.

"God is in the naysayers.”

Cool new slogan, don’t you think?  Yes, this is what I have decided.  And, as such, I have decided to welcome such voices, for they bring a wisdom that, for most of my life, has been pretty much COMPLETELY untapped.

What a shame it's been, you know?

Yes…it has been a shame.  And a sham, too.

How many of us, had we chosen a posture of aggressive-defenselessness and chosen to listen to those who had an unwanted word for us, would have been spared a boatload of grief?  Most likely, all of us.

Fools rush in, or so the saying goes.  Yep.

But just as many fools hesitate making a change when the evidence so blatantly says that staying the course of status quo will kill them.

So…what course should you take?

The scriptures read that wisdom is found in many counselors.

Who are your counselors?

There are, I believe, many people/voices that I listen to in my life; I am afraid, though, that I have far too few counselors.  I’d like to change that.

In this moment, I am deciding to place myself at the feet of those who, on the surface, speak in ways that oppose me.  Aye…my face and heart shall be set like flint to staying on the spot and letting the things that need to be said to me be said and, thus, nail me right on the spot...then and there...here and now.

O God…may the words spoken—by my parents, by my pastors, by my brother, by my sister-in-law, by my enemies, by those who don’t like me, by those who wish me harm—bring great life to my soul, and may I embrace everything that arises with a kind of unconditional friendliness.  Only You can enable me to live in such a way, Lord.

I shall love my enemies, Lord, but my love (or, rather, Your Love in me) will include something different than anything I've ever experienced before, and that’s this:  I shall love to hear whatever they have to say to me, for it will be for my good as You, God—my loving and Heavenly Father—speak the Words of life through them.  Through those  who may say the very things I don’t want to hear, but so DESPERATELY need to hear.

 

Yes, I need what's said.  Need to hear it.  Need to LISTEN to it.

And, yes, O God…transmute “the spoken poisons” into medicine…into that which gives life...as opposed to that which takes it.

So…to all my loving naysayers out there:  bring it on, my friends—and you really are my friends, because you say what you need to say and do so with such little regard for whether it will make me mad or not.  And I love that!!  (Even if I get mad, I love it that you love me enough to tell me what I need to hear.  Please remember this when I loose it, okay?)

I would like to close with a few words that were spoken by a very wise man (and child!) a very long time ago:  "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”

Listen up, y’all…I think God has some things He’d like to say.  Are you listening?

Ah, yes, Lord, speak...and grant me—grant us—the grace to listen. 

Peace-out, and a pleasant evening, to all'y'all…

Daver