Can you tell by the title that I am thinking of a song? I slept well until 4 A.M. After that I continued my pondering from last evening only to be taught by God once I read the Bible. This is fun. Hope you are enjoying my "processing of life." Mark 4 quotes that stood out to me (from The Message)
vs 3" LISTEN, What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell ...." you know the story.
Later I read "Are you listening to this? Really listening? In verse 32 it says that again.
I've been focusing on listening with my classes. Africans are known to be good listeners but as the Public Speaking class took a personal inventory, they discovered that they're not as good as they thought. They discovered lots of emotional filters that cause them to judge before hearing someone out. Before I leave we'll take another inventory to see if they observe any improvement in their listening skills.
Back to Mark "These are people... Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing. Whose ears are open but don't understand a word.....Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way."........ " vs 20 "But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams."
I can't assume responsibility for the kind of soil I am working with. I am like a farmer, but God gives the increase. I'm just a piece of this puzzle! I'll continue in another post!
Listening is an art. All of us could improve in this -it's so easy to anticipate what a person is about to say-often we are wrong. This is motivating me to be a better listener. It's also easy to let our minds drift when another is talking. You have a knack of getting and holding attention. I'll pray for this.
ReplyDeleteYou know-we don't have control over the soil -- the benefit is derived from God's increase-you are wise to see this.
Much love,
Nita