What did you say?

[The setting: Our family room on an ordinary, routine morning.]

Susan: “Blah blah blah, blah blah… blah blah…”

Rick: “Blah blah blah!”

Susan: “Do you realize you interrupted me?”

Rick: “Nope. I thought you were done. Go ahead, I’d rather hear you hear it.”

(Awkward pause and strange look from Susan!)

Rick: (working feverishly to get out of the hole) “Wait! ‘…hear you hear it…’ Does that mean I’d rather say it than listen to you say it? That’s not what I meant.”

I suppose you could call it a Freudian slip but I think it reflects a common ailment in our world today. We are too eager to be heard and not eager enough to listen; and this causes all manner of problems.

• Misunderstandings…
• Individual assignments dropped…
• Hurt feelings – directly and indirectly…
• Fights or arguments due to all the above…

As Mom would say, “There’s a reason God gave you two ears and one mouth.”

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ~ James 1:19-20

Slow down! Take a breath! Listen!

Someone just might say something today that God wants you to hear!

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