I have been watching people all my life. It is one of my favorite forms of entertainment. People are truly amazing to watch them live and interact with each other. Recently I have been spending a lot of time in the biblical text on “The Sermon on the Mount”. I am currently going through at least 3 different interpretations on what I believe was a pivotal teaching of Jesus.
What can I learn?
As you might guess, statements like “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5 is a new filter in my lens of watching people and the way they live. This last Sunday I watched an interaction between two people that was like amazingly clear illustration. It was as if God drew my attentions directly to the conversation that was going on and said watch and remember.
The two people where sitting at the table. One asked “Do you remember this series of teaching?” The other responded, “I knew about that teaching before it was taught by that group.” From there is where the learning point of humility teaching started to unfold. The person who responded I knew about it before started to talk about who and when they knew before, and how they knew all about the ideas and concepts. The person who asked the question tried to make her point but it was lost and never really heard during the conversation. A beautiful and thoughtful point was made but never heard.
The Lord asked me as I watched this unfold. “What if we all looked at lessons and life this way?” I responded then we would never hear what others where trying to say to us, we would never learn what they wanted us to see. He asked “And how would you grow in your understanding?” We wouldn’t Lord for we would never listen long enough to hear one another’s heart for each other. “And how would you change in the ways that you live and are received?” Again Lord, what I see is that when we continue to shut someone out that is trying to teach us, they eventually just give up. Lastly “And what is lost?” Wow that is when I realized how important a part humility plays in our lives.
All is lost, everything that this life has to offer us between one another. Who is going to bother to interact with me if I always have the answers before they even get the conversations started? How will my mind be expanded and my spirit enriched if I don’t take time to listen, to learn from others? Do I think I have all the answers? Do I even think that is possible? Does my life even reflect that I have some of them? Perhaps one lesson I missed was the one about listening and another about humility. For as long as I live I will never be an expert on any topic. There will always be someone that can teach me something more.
We all like to be listened to. We like to know or be validated that what we are saying matters to each other. Perhaps if we learn to listen more deeply there is a lesson in all the people God puts before us each day. I once heard that what bothers us the most to hear from someone or see in someone, will often be a mirror for us to look into. We see that fault or irritation because we see it in ourselves. And then there are times like this we can just watch without judgement and learn ways to improve our lives. We can humble ourselves, and just learn something we can do better.
Be a good listener today. Perhaps it will come from the inside, perhaps an observation of others, and perhaps from a simple conversation where someone is trying to gently teach you something about yourself. Either way the lesson and the change will be worth it in your journey called life.
Be blessed and Be a blessing to some one today.
Rick
