Listening and Hearing

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 18:13

              Listening is harder than hearing. Some are better than others, but most of us struggle with listening. Judge Judy often admonishes litigants and defendants with, “Put your listening ears on!” Jesus often said, “Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

              This Proverb, when it speaks of hearing, means more than just the act of sound waves vibrating the eardrum, causing a series of ripples and signals that are sent to the brain, turning it into sounds we recognize as language. It means to hear with understanding – what I am calling listening in contrast to mere hearing. That’s also what Judge Judy and Jesus mean.

              We can hear without listening. I mean our brains can recognize we are being spoken to in a recognizable language without us making a good faith effort to understand what the person speaking to us is trying to say. Listening takes thought. It requires some empathy toward the person speaking. We have to care about what they are trying to say. That means we have to care about them. Listening, then, requires love.

              To listen, and not just hear, means we try to understand. We may, therefore, need to ask questions to clarify what was said. It means we will need to focus on what is being said while it is being said. We can’t be thinking about our response before the person is even finished speaking. Listening requires empathy even when we disagree. Listening will save us from the folly and shame of only hearing and not understanding.