Listen for Love
17 August 2012
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Good Night Talk
Listen for Love
After my class this morning, I had a chance to check my email and I came across this article that was sent by a good friend of mine. I read it and found it worth sharing with you tonight.
There are times when we are timid and shy about expressing the love we feel. For fear of embarrassing the other person, or ourselves, we hesitate to say the actual words, “I love you.” So we try to communicate the idea in other words. We say “Take care” or “Be good.” But really, these are just other ways of saying “I love you.”
We are sometimes strange people. The only thing we want to say, and the one thing that we should say, is the one thing that we don’t say. And yet, because the feeling is so real, and the need to say it is so strong, we are driven to use other words and signs to say what we really mean. And many times the meaning never gets communicated at all and the other person is left feeling unloved and unwanted.
Therefore, we have to listen for love in the words that people are saying to us. Sometimes the explicit words are necessary, but more often, the manner of saying things is even more important. A mother may nag her son constantly about his grades or cleaning his room. The son may hear only the nagging, but if he listens carefully, he will hear the love underneath the nagging.
We can show our love in many ways. Sometimes we can show it by just keeping quiet and not saying a word. Sometimes we can show love by gentleness, sometimes by thoughtfulness, sometimes by impulsiveness. Many times we have to show our love by forgiving someone who has not listened to the love we have tried to express.
The problem in our world now is that people rarely listen to each other. They hear the words or the expression on the face. Simon and Garfunkel wrote that very haunting song, “The Sound of Silence.” It goes: “Ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without
-------------------------------------------------
Good Night Talk
Listen for Love
After my class this morning, I had a chance to check my email and I came across this article that was sent by a good friend of mine. I read it and found it worth sharing with you tonight.
There are times when we are timid and shy about expressing the love we feel. For fear of embarrassing the other person, or ourselves, we hesitate to say the actual words, “I love you.” So we try to communicate the idea in other words. We say “Take care” or “Be good.” But really, these are just other ways of saying “I love you.”
We are sometimes strange people. The only thing we want to say, and the one thing that we should say, is the one thing that we don’t say. And yet, because the feeling is so real, and the need to say it is so strong, we are driven to use other words and signs to say what we really mean. And many times the meaning never gets communicated at all and the other person is left feeling unloved and unwanted.
Therefore, we have to listen for love in the words that people are saying to us. Sometimes the explicit words are necessary, but more often, the manner of saying things is even more important. A mother may nag her son constantly about his grades or cleaning his room. The son may hear only the nagging, but if he listens carefully, he will hear the love underneath the nagging.
We can show our love in many ways. Sometimes we can show it by just keeping quiet and not saying a word. Sometimes we can show love by gentleness, sometimes by thoughtfulness, sometimes by impulsiveness. Many times we have to show our love by forgiving someone who has not listened to the love we have tried to express.
The problem in our world now is that people rarely listen to each other. They hear the words or the expression on the face. Simon and Garfunkel wrote that very haunting song, “The Sound of Silence.” It goes: “Ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without