Listening in Three Dimensions

Yesterday minister-Lou talked about Jesus’ story that starts, ‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed…’ He describes how seed fell on the path, in rocky places, in the weeds and on good earth… Jesus says it’s four different pictures of the way we ‘hear the Word’…

When my wife Rachel speaks to me…

…Sometimes I can’t hear because my physical ability is deteriorating… or I’m too far away… or other sounds are drowning out her (always really important!) words.  

…Sometimes I can hear the words, but I’m not listening… my mind’s on other things… I think, through familiarity, I know what she’s saying… what she’s talking about doesn’t appear to be a priority…

…Sometimes I hear what Rachel says, listen to what she means, understand what she’s thinking.

Perhaps listening has three dimensions…

Listening with our ears. In school we taught children to listen carefully… to the instructions for the science experiment… to the description of Macbeth’s character… to the conditions in Auschwitz…

…Listening both to the words said, and how they’re said… the science teacher’s excitement, the English teacher’s engagement, the history teacher’s horror… Listening with our ears demands receptiveness, patience, concentration…

Listening with our eyes. The old song ‘Sing a Rainbow’ has the lines ‘Listen with your ears, Listen with your eyes.’ Visual information enhances the aural information.

It’s the paramedic listening to the patient and looking for symptoms… the mother listening to the baby’s cry, and watching familiar behaviour patterns… the questioning agnostic, looking for consistency in the behaviour of the ‘Christian’.

Listening with our minds. In conversation with people I know well, I know where they’re coming from – their character, their background, our relationship. I reflect on their words in the context of experience.

Jesus ends his story about the farmer with: ‘He who has ears to hear let him hear.’ or, ‘Are you listening to this? Really listening?’ …Listening with ears, eyes and mind?

With God’s help, I pray that I’ll get better at listening in three dimensions.