Listen--Sensing Need
"Stand before the Lord in awe, and do not sin against him. Lie quietly upon your bed in silent meditation." Psalms 4:4 (TLB)The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent. ~ Anonymous
At a conference this weekend, a speaker had a power point presentation displaying inspirational people and interspersing motivational/inspirational quotes along with them. The quote above about listen and silent was displayed in association with a picture of Helen Keller. At first, I thought he attributed the quote to her but my research did not verified that. It did make me wonder though how in her world of silence, Helen Keller listened.
As listeners go, I imagine her to be a great one. She didn't have the distractions that the hearing/seeing world has. Her power of concentration had to be sharpened and honed by learning to percieve her world through her other senses. Did she listen through a touch? The grasp of a desparate hand asking for help? Through smell? Knowing someone was depressed because they weren't taking care of hygiene? What about taste? Did she listen by tasting the wonderful flavors of fresh bakery made to celebrate happiness?
How do you reach out to your world to listen? If you can see and hear, don't let distractions keep you from sensing someone's need for encouragement.
©2006 Karen Robbins
posted by Wandering Writer @ 5:47 AM
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