"Christians, especially ministers, so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking." (Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoffer, "The Ministry of Listening.")
"It occurs to me, Jim, that you spend too much time trying to be interesting," [Gardner] said. "Why don't you invest more time in being interested." (Good to Great and the Social Sectors, by Jim Collins.)I took classes in seminary on active listening, and I went to a seminary (Drew) where Professor Nelle Morton had spoken to an earlier generation of students about "hearing one another to speech." And of course Jesus of Nazareth spoke often about how those with ears to hear need to listen for good news. But it's hard, I think. Especially in a society where everyone wants to make sure they are being heard. We live with a lot of noise that makes listening even harder than it needs to be.
What if we who are called to lead, in various ways, are called to be more focused on being interested than in being interesting; in listening to others rather than always feeling we need to speak the truth? What if the first step toward transforming fear into love is to listen to one another with open hearts and holy curiosity?
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