{"id":2378,"date":"2023-02-16T08:59:17","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T13:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2378"},"modified":"2023-02-16T08:59:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T13:59:17","slug":"what-you-say-and-what-i-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/16\/what-you-say-and-what-i-hear\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Say and What I Hear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
There\u2019s often a big difference between what other people say and what we hear.
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Not to mention the difference between what we think we hear and what we actually understand.
\u00a0
Author and pastor Brian J. Dodd remembers the time a British church leader was asked to preach in the United States.\u00a0 He had a great text:\u00a0 Ephesians 2:4. After the apostle Paul documents the spiritual brokenness of humanity, he transitions to the incredible things God has done on our behalf.\u00a0 Paul launches this good news with the words \u201cbut God\u2026<\/em>\u201d
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The message itself was entitled But God.\u00a0 <\/em>So far so good.
\u00a0
What the guest preacher didn\u2019t grasp is that the word \u201cbut\u201d might sound somewhat different in America than in the U.K.
\u00a0
In England, one sits on one\u2019s \u201cbum.\u201d\u00a0 If you should say \u201cbut\u201d in London, no one would think of a posterior.\u00a0 But in the States, \u201cbut\u201d and \u201cbutt\u201d are homonyms:\u00a0 They sound alike but have radically different meanings, depending on the context.
\u00a0
The preacher announced he would be making four points.\u00a0 All of them featured the word \u201cbut.\u201d \u00a0He, of course, intended \u201cbut\u201d to mean \u201cexcept\u201d or \u201cexception.\u201d\u00a0 But as the sermon progressed, his increasingly amused listeners heard the word that he would have used for \u201cbum.\u201d
\u00a0
Imagine hearing this four-point sermon this weekend:
\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. God has a but.<\/em><\/li>
  2. We all have buts, too.<\/em><\/li>
  3. Some of our buts are bigger than others\u2019.<\/em><\/li>
  4. The only problem with your but is that you\u2019re the only one who can\u2019t see it.<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Who said church isn\u2019t fun?

    Hearing is fundamentally more challenging than listening. 

    Listening requires attentiveness.  But hearing demands discernment.  And patience.  And grace.  And sufficient commitment to the integrity of our relationship \u2013 even if it\u2019s a brief one \u2013 to ask, \u201cI think I just heard you say this.  <\/em>Did I get that right?\u201d  After all, I may hear the words you\u2019re saying.  But that\u2019s not the same thing as grasping the intent of your heart or the emotions behind your message. 

    It\u2019s easy to see how this applies to every realm of human life.

    Take biblical study, for instance.  At the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus speaks these words: \u201cThe kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the Good News!\u201d (Mark 1:15). 

    This is a semantic minefield for 21st<\/sup> century disciples.  What exactly is the kingdom of God?  Does God\u2019s kingdom have an address and a Main Street and a throne room like earthly kingdoms?  And what does it mean to \u201crepent\u201d?  When many of us hear that word we think of \u201cdoing penance\u201d \u2013 taking specific steps to get our lives in order, only after which we can be acceptable to God.  But in its original first century use, metanoia<\/em> (\u201crepentance\u201d in Greek) meant something much closer to, \u201cIn light of this important new opportunity \u2013 the Good News of God\u2019s grace \u2013 change your mind and change the direction of your life.\u201d

    Most spouses know from experience how hard it can be to hear what their partner is really saying.

    In the midst of an emotion-fueled shouting match, deep-seated fears may clog our ears.  One partner may hear, \u201cShe\u2019s trying to diminish me by controlling me!\u201d  But what she\u2019s really thinking is, \u201cHe\u2019s on the verge of abandoning me!\u201d  Those ancient fears \u2013 abandonment and being controlled \u2013 can overwhelm our senses.  That\u2019s why learning how not<\/em> to push your partner\u2019s Fear Buttons is one of the essential skills of marriage. 

    The difference between what is said and what is heard is never more painfully on display these days than in the public square.  Just listen to any half-hour national news program. 

    Those on one side of an issue are convinced they represent the only valid prescription to save our country.  But the other side hears little more than a formula to destroy everything we hold dear.  Even though it\u2019s easy to demonstrate that almost everyone involved in such conflicts sincerely yearns for what is right and good, \u201cdebates\u201d quickly become exercises in not-hearing.  And thus \u201cno grace for you.\u201d

    We can do better.  We have<\/em> to do better. 

    May our listening become hearing.  And our hearing become understanding.

    No if\u2019s, and\u2019s, or but\u2019s about it.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0There\u2019s often a big difference between what other people say and what we hear.\u00a0Not to mention the difference between what we think we hear and what we actually understand.\u00a0Author and pastor Brian J. Dodd remembers the time a British church leader was asked to preach in the United States.\u00a0 He had a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[566],"class_list":["post-2378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-listening-vs-hearing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2380,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378\/revisions\/2380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}