10/6/2017 0 Comments He Who Has Ears...I was at the park with Asa (my two year old) today. While we were playing in the tube slide, he said "Airplane!". I paused and then I heard the airplane overhead. This was just one instance of many when my son notices sounds that I seem to which I seem to have grown immune. There is hardly a day that goes by when I will hear yell "Fire truck!" or "Ambulance!" and I will then listen and hear a siren in the distance. I been impressed that there is a spiritual lesson here. My son is fascinated with the world around him. He sees and hears everything because it is new and different. I have grown callous and cold toward the world around me. I wonder if the same could be said of how I engage with the Spirit of God and the Word of God. Jesus once told a parable of the sower and soils. It is a parable about how different people receive the Word of God. When the disciples asked him concerning the meaning of this parable he replied: 10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” - Mark 4:10-12 You see there is never a problem with the seed (the Word of God), only with the soil. My son reminded me that God is constantly speaking through his Word and his Spirit. The question is do I have ears to hear? Or have a grown callous and cold? Do I simply ignore God's Word or let hardship or the cares of this world keep me from receiving it?
Lord give me ears to hear. Too often I let your voice be drowned out.
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10/2/2017 0 Comments Proverbs 18:2"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, Our culture has become reactionary. There are a variety of factors to this: social media, the speed of the news cycle, the polarization of politics, etc., etc., etc.. We want to be right more than we want the truth. We live in a world where issues are deeply complex. Complex issues deserve thought out answers and sophisticated solutions.
This begins with listening. Listening is more than just hearing the words that I am planning to instantaneously refute and mock with my canned argument. Listening involves putting myself in the place of the person that is in front of me and doing my best to understand their argument and motivations and priorities. I can have sympathy for how and why behind their conclusions even when I do not agree with them. When we take the time to do this we can disagree well. We can address underlying assumptions (and even evaluate our own). We can win a person rather than just an argument. Let us respond rather than react. Let us think before we speak. Let us seek to understand rather than perpetuate rhetoric. In understanding someone else's opinion, we will likely make them much more open to our own. |
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