“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…” (James 1:19)
In my advancing years, I have done a good amount of writing. My Words From WW blog is closing in on 1,500 posts. Sometimes they’re serious, sometimes ludicrous, but most of the time I try to take a life situation and draw a spiritual teaching or pondering from it.
Sometimes, it’s evident that the reader either didn’t get the point or didn’t read the whole blog. Maybe he got bored, or maybe she got distracted, but the reader still made some kind of comment or gave me one of those emoticons. Perhaps I was the one at fault and wrote poorly enough to cause confusion.
I’ve had a couple of occasions where I’ve read a Facebook post or a text and wanted to give a reply. One time, I skimmed the post, and when the “emoticons” appeared, I hurriedly hit the “Wow” to indicate how amazing the news or the accomplishment was. The only problem was that I punched the wrong emoticon. Instead of the “Wow!”, I hit the “Haha” laughing uncontrollably emoticon. Think how small you would feel if your friend was sharing about the serious six-hour-long surgical procedure he was about to undergo, and you replied by hitting the “Haha” emoticon. He’s about to go under the knife and you send him a face that is laughing uncontrollably.
Oops!
One of the issues with communication is our rush to get through it. After all, there are a ton of Facebook posts that we need to respond to: Sylvia got a new aquarium, Bobby posted a video of him lifting weights, Gladys is going to the zoo, and Troy got his braces off. So many people to give some kind of reply to, so we head an emoticon in their direction. In a time where there is more information shared and ways to share, we listen less. There’s an emphasis these days on over-communicating, while at the same time we “under hear.”
Jesus had a few conversations that weren’t heard or understood. Some of the most religious folk already had decided they didn’t like what he was saying— even before he said it. The disciples often had side conversations, trying to figure out what Jesus meant. And then there were the parables that would have had Goober and Gomer scratching their heads. Sometimes, we hear with our ears but not our heads or hearts. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit speaks to us, but we’ve already determined what the leading is. How might the gospel stories be told differently if the disciples had listened for the deeper meaning? How might the problems in the Corinthian church have been solved if the ones who were always talking, always complaining, had waited for the Spirit to speak?
With social media today, James’s words need to seep into our laptops and cell phones. Honestly, his words are more important in those arenas than face-to-face dialogue because most of our communication is not done in person. Being slow to speak and quick to listen would eliminate most conflicts a typical person faces. It would assuredly lessen the caseload of professional counselors and attorneys.
Pondering James’s words, it seems that more listening and less speaking would also slow down the rise of anger and calm the rage that seems to erupt as rapidly as forest fires.
Words from WW Blog 