Yesterday’s focus was on the struggle to be heard in this rambunctious and contentious world of ours. I have an important message to convey, after all — Love God and love your neighbor — and I want it to be heard.
Today, I wonder: Is more important to hear than to be heard? to listen than to speak?
“God gave you two ears and one mouth, and they should be used in approximately that proportion,” a wise someone said some time ago, and the advice has been passed through the ages.
The carpenter’s wisdom is “Measure twice, cut once.” So it might be with words. Measure the words you hear to make sure you understand; then, and only then, cut — that is, respond, choose not to speak, or otherwise act as your measurements require. Perhaps that is what it means to “speak in measured tones.”
It seems to me that listening to my neighbors may be the best way to love them.
