Hearing Love

What if we listened?

What if we really, actually listened to one another? I’m not talking about simply hearing the words that our friends speak. No, I’m talking about something much more intimate and much more difficult. I’m talking about listening to our friends and using our ears to peer into their heart to see their well-being that we might love them better. To really know our friends.

Many of your friends are hurting, some are lonely, and most are anxious. Some are experiencing great joy, others intense sorrow, and some are even wrestling with deep depression.Some are struggling to cope with the busyness of life, while others are so confused about life that they are utterly paralyzed and simply do nothing.

What if we began to listen to these people. What if we started seeking to know them deeply, and to care for them based on how they are doing. What if I stopped living a life focused on myself, and began to focus on the needs of my friends. What if I stopped treating people based on how I “feel” like treating them, and began to take time to understand who they are, and how they are doing, and then using that knowledge to love them excellently.

What if we really listened? Well , to put it simply: if we begin to listen better, we will love better. And if we begin to love better, we will serve God better. Thus, we must become better listeners. Because if we do not know what is going on in their life or their heart, how can we love them well? To love a friend when they are in a time of grief is very different from loving a friend in a time of joy.

Unfortunately, the honest truth is that most of us are very self-centered. Even the most virtuous man struggles to listen well that he might know and love others around him. But that is what we must do. That is our calling. That is what Christ did.

We must gauge out our old perspective and adopt the vision of Christ. We must die to ourselves so that Christ can resurrect our hearts to be enabled to genuinely love the world. We must partner with the Holy Spirit, and pray with fervor, that we might be empowered to take our eyes off ourselves to know and love those around us. This is what happened to the St. Paul. He was literally blinded by Christ, and when he regained vision, he no longer saw the world as a hypocritical, self-righteouss Pharisee. He no longer focused on himself because in comparison to serving God, anything we do to serve ourselves is rubbish.

Here we encounter a paradox of life. In our depraved minds, it seems that focusing on ourselves will ensure a life of success and happiness, while focusing on others will lead to an empty life. However, in Christ, we live in an upside down kingdom where things don’t always make sense because, in reality, the life of pride leaves a man empty, unhappy and unfulfilled, while a life of love and sacrafice brings purpose, satisfaction and intense joy. So let us seek to adopt the vision of Christ, and let us plead with God for a new perspective in life so that we can truly know and love our brothers and sisters around us.