a listening ear, a caring voice,
an honest word, someone taking time to hear,
patient under pressure, faithful
in season, reliable—this is
the fruit of deep
roots
in time spent with God
This poem about listening sounds simple, perhaps. But I’ve found the root of someone being able to really listen; to enter into someone else’s story and speak into it in a meaningful and authentic way, is often a vital relationship to God. When we spend time with the Lord, hearing, perhaps, what We need to hear; we are open to hearing others speak and work out their faith, their struggle, in a way that allows a new level of freedom to come alive, blessing both the one who listens and the one who hears, with a deep joy.
This poem appears in my BOOK, “Longings of the Soul, a poetic response.”