For my next photo and topic, I want to touch on the subject on having the desire to listen to other people's testimony, and story. If you are just listening to someone talk because you have to, they will have a different attitude as if you were actively listening.
God has given me a gift listening to other people. I noticed that I enjoyed listening to other people's story last summer working at the movie theater. In our down time there, people would just talk, and I found that I was often pulled aside so that they could talk about what ever was going on, I would listen and then we would go back to work. I hardly said anything, but you can tell that once they said what they wanted, they just felt much better.
I know that in American culture it has become cliché to talk about the walls that we build up around ourselves. I actually think that they are more like chain linked fences. You're still trapped, but sometimes you are waiting for someone to actually stand on the opposite side of the fence, and listen to them. They sometimes just need to know that someone is there. That is why I love this picture. The fence is yet again fake, for it was hand drawn on, yet it is creating this barrier between him and us on this side of the fence. So my question is that not knowing this guy at all, would you step up to the fence and listen to what he has to say, or would you walk on by, hoping someone else will stop.
Now, it is not always as easy as I may make it seem earlier. Sure there are people out there who if they feel like they can trust you, they can spill their whole life story. But most the time, you have to put effort in, to gain that trust and start the conversation. That is difficult. I know that I am petrified of staring conversations, but are you going to be able to get out of your comfort zone and start that conversation. If you see that someone you know fairly well have an off day, are you going to make sure they are okay, and wait for their response, or move on with your life. For some of us, we can start the conversation, but we lose interest fast. Some of use can listen to someone's story for hours but we can never start the conversation.
Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan stepped out of his comfort zone to help this man on the street. He didn't care who he was, his ethnicity, nothing. He showed compassion on the man, and went out of his way to help him. Taking an example from the Samaritan, can we step out of our comfort zone, and meet people at their chain linked fences in their life, and truly listen to what they have to say. It shouldn't matter who they are, race, gender, age, for we are all God's children, and we all need someone to talk to.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for always being there to listen to me, through the good and the bad. Thank you for the people that you have placed in my life that are willing to listen to me. I pray that I can approach the fence in the lives of the people around me, and that I am willing to intently listen to them. Amen.
God has given me a gift listening to other people. I noticed that I enjoyed listening to other people's story last summer working at the movie theater. In our down time there, people would just talk, and I found that I was often pulled aside so that they could talk about what ever was going on, I would listen and then we would go back to work. I hardly said anything, but you can tell that once they said what they wanted, they just felt much better.
I know that in American culture it has become cliché to talk about the walls that we build up around ourselves. I actually think that they are more like chain linked fences. You're still trapped, but sometimes you are waiting for someone to actually stand on the opposite side of the fence, and listen to them. They sometimes just need to know that someone is there. That is why I love this picture. The fence is yet again fake, for it was hand drawn on, yet it is creating this barrier between him and us on this side of the fence. So my question is that not knowing this guy at all, would you step up to the fence and listen to what he has to say, or would you walk on by, hoping someone else will stop.
Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan stepped out of his comfort zone to help this man on the street. He didn't care who he was, his ethnicity, nothing. He showed compassion on the man, and went out of his way to help him. Taking an example from the Samaritan, can we step out of our comfort zone, and meet people at their chain linked fences in their life, and truly listen to what they have to say. It shouldn't matter who they are, race, gender, age, for we are all God's children, and we all need someone to talk to.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for always being there to listen to me, through the good and the bad. Thank you for the people that you have placed in my life that are willing to listen to me. I pray that I can approach the fence in the lives of the people around me, and that I am willing to intently listen to them. Amen.
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