A Beautiful Gift
Today, I am deeply grateful for those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. Hope reaches others because of you. Thank you!
The book of James instructs us, “Be slow to speak, quick to listen.”
Sometimes we’re like the couple who were sitting with some friends and the subject of marriage counseling came up. Mary said, “Oh, Tom and I will never need counseling. We have a great relationship. He was a communications major in college and I majored in drama. He communicates really well and I just act like I’m listening!”
One of the wisest people I’ve ever met was an older Catholic nun who had served all over the world. I met her at a Catholic retreat center in Geneva Switzerland. She had a presence about her. Every word she spoke was thought through, and she really took the time to get to know each of us personally. I was there with a group of students – most of us studying to be pastors. She reminded us that the greatest gift you can a person is to listen to them. Not the kind of listening you do, while you’re watching tv, or on your phone, or while you’re thinking about what you’re going to say next. But the kind of listening, where you take the time to hear both the words that are being said and the feelings that are behind those words.
Presbyterian scholar and pastor Eugene Peterson echoes these thoughts. He once wrote: “You enter into the soul, the spirit of somebody else by listening to them, not by telling them something.”
Today may you be slow to speak and quick to listen. May you give the people around you the gift of someone who cares enough to listen.
Let us pray: O Lord God, we have said some things we wished we hadn’t. We all know firsthand the pain that words can cause, and the pain of words withheld or used carelessly. I pray that today you would heal any old wounds we carry, but then move us to a place where we are more content to listen than to speak. Remind us of the value and the grace that is given in a listening ear. Thank you for listening to us this day. Amen.
Daily Message Author: Joe Albright
Joe began his ministry in Sarasota, Florida as an associate pastor, and it was in this capacity that he worked alongside the Reverend Dr. Roger Kunkel. Roger was a colleague who became a mentor and treasured friend. From Sarasota, Joe was called to Jacksonville, Florida where he served as the Head of Staff at Hodges Boulevard Presbyterian Church. Currently, Joe and his family worship and serve at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Switzerland, Florida. Full Bio
