Just Listen!
Have you ever felt like the world has become more insensitive? I sometimes feel like we become numb to the pain around us. We can now sit in front of our TVs and watch live feeds of terrible things around the world. We can sit in front of our computers at work and watch shocking videos of tragedies caught on YouTube. You can Google videos of people being mugged, people being hit by cars or people being run over by crowds in a riot.
Do you remember the old song “What the World Needs Now is Love”? I believe it is fair to say that what this world needs now is a little more love and kindness. The truth of the matter is each of us needs to treat others with a genuine kindness because of the kindness that God has shown to us.
Have you ever gotten tired of listening to someone go on and on about something in their life? Erma Bombeck told about a time when she was so tired of listening. She had listened to her son tell in detail about a movie he had just seen punctuated by at least one thousand "you knows” and "okays." Then she had received several telephone calls filled with mindless chatter that never seemed to end. So it was with genuine relief that she was able to tell the last caller that she just had to rush off to the airport. She got into a taxicab and as the taxicab driver took her to the airport, he told her all about his son who had won a scholarship to college and how he was making straight As. Erma had to sit there and listen to it all. She said, "But once I got to the airport and realized that I was 30 minutes early, I breathed a sigh of relief and thought, I have 30 whole minutes when I don’t have to listen to anybody. I can just sit here and read my book and not be bothered at all." But no sooner had she opened her book, when an elderly female voice said to her, "I bet it’s cold in Chicago." "I suppose," Erma Bombeck replied without looking up from her book. "I haven’t been in Chicago for 3 years," the woman said. "My son lives there." "That’s nice," said Erma. Then the woman continued on, "My husband’s body is on this plane. We were married for 53 years. I don’t drive, you see, and the funeral director was so nice. He drove me to the airport today." Erma recalls, "Her voice droned on. Here was a woman who didn’t want money or advice or counsel. All she wanted was someone to listen. And in desperation, she had turned to a total stranger with her story." Erma Bombeck said, "She continued to talk to me until they announced that we were boarding the plane. We walked onto the plane and I saw her sit down in another section. And as I hung up my coat I heard her say to the person next to her, `I bet it’s cold in Chicago.’"
Sometime today or maybe later this week, someone is going to go on and on about something in their life or get on your last nerve. When that happens, and it is going to happen, remember that maybe God has put you there to show them a little kindness and just listen.
Scripture: James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
Prayer: Lord, as you bring hurting people across my path this week, help me to stop and simply listen. Amen.
Pastor John
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