Listen Up!

By Lisa Robertson

For the next few months several Changing Seasons leaders will be learning about the Art of Listening.  This is the chosen topic for our four week study which will begin on Wednesday, June 6 and run through June 27.

Since learning how to listen is one of my 2012 resolutions, I have had several interesting thoughts on listening,  swirl around in my mind.

Much to my surprise, I discovered that I have lost the discipline of listening.  Yes, I have come to believe that listening is a discipline that needs to be learned and practiced.   Often I think that I know what the person is going to tell me, so I tune them out because I think that I already know what they will say.

Occasionally, I receive an email that looks long, my eyes glaze over and I scan for the “trigger” words.  Through the trigger words, I assume that I know what it said or what was meant.  Again, I have missed important information.

Over and over again, I am reminded to slow down and concentrate on listening before I jump to shallow or incorrect conclusions.

If I am hearing correctly, in this study, we will learn about how we listen to ourselves, others, emails, and most importantly, how do we hear God? How does He speak to us?

These are few of the topics that will be discussed.

Hear, oops, I mean Here- are some listening nuggets for you from Proverbs…

”Those who listen to instruction will prosper.  God blesses everyone who trusts Him.” 

Proverbs 16:20

“Come to my home each day and listen to me!  You will find happiness.”

Proverbs 8:34

“Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;  he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all.   Run to God! Run from evil!”

Proverbs 3:6

The above wisdom insights are enough to interest me in learning about the art of listening.  There seems to be so much to gain and so little to lose.

Seems like a Win-Win to me and I like that.

In the months before we begin this short study in June, let’s start listening and writing down some of the things that we think we hear.   By writing them down, we’ll be able to remember them, review them, and gauge if we are listening to ourselves, to God or to the world. 

Who knows, this experiment just may surprise us!