THE LOST ART OF LISTENING - WHEN YOU READ

I am a blogger (and I make videos) and the following are MY observations and MY opinions.

In the blogging community (and in videos) there are hundreds of individuals that want to communicate with others. They daily put their lives ‘on the line’ and are open to ridicule, antagonism, disrespect, mockery, and discrimination.

So why do these people do it?

They long to be heard, to be seen, and to be understood. They long to be acknowledged as individuals. They hope that in some way they can reach out, encourage, uplift, inform or help others. Words may be just words to some people but these people will use words from their heart and mind to try to communicate to others.

These people are inviting us to look into the secret places of their hearts and lives. They invite us into their private world and we should be respectful of their words and space. And yes, I am a person inviting you into the secret place of my life, and I hope that readers will respect my thoughts and my space.

But sadly this isn't the case. Go onto You Tube and you'll see thousands of scoffers, especially if the word Jesus is mentioned. Look at the Christian community and you'll see "comment deleted by moderator", that's if the blogger even has comments open.

As we read what they have written, we tend to create images and thoughts from the words we read and bring them into our own reality. We should be trying to see the words written through the eyes of the writer and not through our own preconceived ideas and biases. What is the writer really trying to convey in this article? Have I read every word accurately? What can I learn through this and how does this apply to my life? Etc.

I believe reading and listening are becoming lost ‘arts’. Reading should be an act of contemplation, deep thought, consideration, purpose, and reflection. It should be an act in which we allow ourselves to join with the mind and heart of another human being and see things through their eyes.

It is so easy to stand on the outside and criticize what another has written. We only see words on a page and we don’t bother to look beyond. We don’t care to see the person behind the words and yet words sometimes are the only form of expression an individual may have to reach out to others.

It is much the same in the real world. We tend to see only what we want to see, an outer shell. We don’t care to see the real person inside that shell.

These writers are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends. They are real people with real desires and needs. They have chosen to invite you into their private lives and hope that in someway they can encourage you or make your day a little brighter.

When I write an article, I presume that my readers will pour over each word and understand the underlying message of what I am trying to convey. I presume they are reading with an open mind and that they have put away their own biases and that they are really seeing ‘me’ and what I am all about.

I am very careful about every word I put down. Questions go through my head as I write. Are my words glorifying my Heavenly Father? How will others perceive my words? Will my words be offensive to some? Will my words bless and encourage others? Will I have lots of readers or only a few? Is my spelling correct? Have I used proper sentence structure, language and punctuation? Will my family be reading? On and on it goes.

I try to be open and honest and yet I find I hold back so much of what I would really like to say. I fear my audience would not understand or be able to accept what I have to say and yet I have this inner need to share, to reach out, and to try to help by using words from my heart.

I write, rewrite and end up discarding article after article believing that maybe one article isn’t really that important or another article is not worthy of my audience. It can take me hours to create what some might see as simply a few lines.

I write from my mind and my heart and it is only natural to presume that other writers are doing the same.

If you enjoy reading my writing then I welcome you into my world. I encourage you to take what you can and leave the rest. I hope I can share some bit of wisdom, advice, encouragement, or just plain entertainment to willing eyes.

Pro 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

1Ch 28:9b …for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

To those who would find fault or criticize; I’ve seen countless ‘trolls’ who seem to get some sort of perverted warped sense of satisfaction in putting down others and making negative comments. This seems especially prominent on Christian blogs and videos.

What purpose does this serve?

If you don't like what someone has to say, then don't read and move on.

We live in a free country, but it will never truly be free until people like you and I live out that freedom by respecting the words of another.