I was at the Principia college campus two weekends ago with my wife to visit our daughter. We watched her swim, caught up on the latest news and had a grand time.
On Friday night, the Christian Science Monitor held a “Monitor Live” event in Cox auditorium which we skipped over to see.
John Yemma, editor of the Monitor, hosted the program which included 4 top-notch Monitor writers on a panel.
All the writers had fascinating ideas to consider. But one observation I wanted to share with you was mentioned by Gloria Goodale, who was speaking from Southern California at the time.
To set the scene, Goodale eloquently articulated how communication has changed in one significant way over the last 20 or 30 years.
Everyone is talking today! She emphasized.
Billions of postings are happening on Facebook constantly. Millions of bloggers are online posting their thoughts (hmmm….guilty of that…), hundreds of TV channels are available for watching (when I was a kid, we had 3 channels to choose from), dozens of personalities are on TV, radio, and the Internet venting their point of view. Add to that mix all the other hundreds of millions of voices, pens, keyboards, cell phones and video cameras contributing their point of view, and what do you have? A whole lot of people talking! Goodale wondered out loud, “With all those people talking, one begins to wonder if anyone is listening.”
A very interesting point to consider!
And I don’t think Gloria meant what aurally comes into the ear. She was speaking about “really listening,” qualities such as quietly considering the value and significance of what you are taking in versus mindless sensual consumption and numbing entertainment.
For instance, I think of the millions of teenagers and children who spend thousands of hours soaking in TV broadcasts and Youtube videos, but wonder how much they gain in terms of real-life value. Listening is more than hearing. True listening involves thinking, reasoning, and constructively growing from the information gained.
After listening to her talk, I took her point and applied it to the realm of spiritual growth and edification.
Is it possible that the human mind gets so permeated by the present climate of “talk, talk, talk,” that little spiritual listening happens as a consequence.
For example, do you ever spend a lot of time talking or arguing with yourself about issues and not getting anywhere?
Do you ever spend a lot of time talking to another person, a spouse or work associate, and not get anywhere?
If not, could this be symptomatic of a need to listen more, to truly listen more for God’s direction in society at large, and do less talking and indulging the human mind and its point of view?
Jesus Christ spent whole nights, days, even weeks, listening in the wilderness, waiting for clear divine direction, before he went back into town and talked with the public.
Listening is a good quality. It’s healthy. It’s humbling. Done right, it’s unselfish. After listening to Goodale, and recognizing that there are many wise people in this world with good ideas to hear, I decided the challenge was to listen to a voice worth hearing. And most importantly, to be sure God’s voice was our guiding call above all others.
thanks, Evan! I’ve been thinking about this very topic recently though not quite in the way you described it. All the better to have another perspective!
Dear Evan,
Thank you so much for sharing this very important reminder about true listening! I’m inspired to do less talking and much more spiritual listening starting right now!
So important to differentiate between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’. By listening to our Divine Father-Mother, we hear what we need to move forward. I was thinking this morning about the 3 Hebrew boys and the story about how they were instructed to fall down and worship an idol when they heard certain music. By listening to God instead of obeying the voice of error, they were saved! Pretty good lesson on listening vs. just hearing! 🙂
Thanks, Evan. I just love that idea that eventually we learn that all true communication is Divine. I like to think of it from the viewpoint of “evolutionary spirituality,” a topic that is so trendy now. One commentator pointed out that first we had the “atmosphere,” which were chemical gasses, water, etc. Then we evolved to a “biosphere” which is organic life (small l).Today we realize we’re living, working and being in a “noosphere.” our true spiritual atmosphere of knowledge.
Hi Bob,
Noosphere is a new word on me! I’ve probably read about it, but didn’t let it register. Will keep my eye out for it… Thanks for sharing.
Hi Bob and Evan, is Noosphere, supposed to be like a “NEWsphere”? or is that NO-0(zero)-sphere? or what. I have not heard of it either. Lets hear more…sounds interesting to factor into the spiritual growth equation.
It’s noosphere, ‘noo’ being greek or latin for ‘knowledge’ (Noetic Institute is another verison. Coined by a Jesuit priest and scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, trying to better understand our evolution out of matter into mind (small m) and eventually toward Mind (big M) or God.
Interesting how everything is moving toward spirit!
Yes, but at least people are communicating. Even though they might seem to be talking, they are passing on what they heard. You can’t have talking without listening anyway. So much information is now whizzing around the world, and it gives Good a chance to be heard too. Much more than ever before. And you can bet as soon as someone heard GOOD they want to pass it on quickly. Good blog, and thanks Bob for the description of noosphere, very good for us to know. I shall pass that on !!! See, it works.