{"id":417,"date":"2021-01-14T12:07:54","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T17:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=417"},"modified":"2021-01-14T12:07:54","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T17:07:54","slug":"hearing-and-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/14\/hearing-and-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing and Listening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Walter Cronkite, the long-time CBS anchor who became \u201cAmerica\u2019s most trusted voice,\u201d lived into his early 90s.

His affable spirit, commitment to journalistic integrity, and deep love for his wife Betsy never faltered. 

His hearing was a different matter. 

Betsy was fond of telling about the time when the two of them, late in life, walked into a little grocery store on Martha\u2019s Vineyard.  Some guests were coming to their place and they needed to pick up a few items.  Because it was Saturday afternoon, the store was crowded.  That meant that the easily-recognizable Cronkite would be mobbed. 

He was unfailingly polite in such situations.

Oh, Mr. Cronkite, I started watching you when I was six years old.<\/em>  And, Do you know So-and-So?<\/em>  And, Do remember meeting the Johnsons?  <\/em>Even though his hearing was compromised, he smiled and personally engaged every inquirer. 

Betsy was relieved when they finally reached the cash register.  That\u2019s when a gentleman seemed to come out of the shadows.  He approached the retired anchor and said, \u201cDo you know So-and-So?\u201d

Cronkite pulled himself up to his full height and replied, \u201cWell, I can\u2019t say that I know him.  But I have met him, and he seems to be a very nice fellow.\u201d

After the Cronkites stepped outside, Betsy sighed and said, \u201cWalter, you have to listen more carefully.  That man just asked you, \u2018Do you know Jesus?\u2019\u201d

There\u2019s hearing and there\u2019s listening.  They\u2019re not the same thing.

Our auditory capacity may falter as we grow older.  We may be sincerely interested in what someone has to say, but won\u2019t be able to connect if we can\u2019t discern their message.

Likewise, we may hear perfectly well someone\u2019s words (or shouts, or warnings, or curses) in a moment of political passion.  But unless we ratchet up our ability to listen, we may be unable to grasp the points they are making.  Or the roots of their anger.  Or the reason they feel threatened by things that, from our perspective, seem entirely benign. 

As a closing flourish to some of his teaching and his parables, Jesus added this catchphrase:  \u201cWhoever has ears to hear, let them hear.\u201d (Mark 4:9 and Matthew 11:15, among others)

Commentators agree that Jesus is saying, \u201cI know you just heard my words.  But are you ready and willing to take them to heart?  Do you want to do business with me or not?\u201d  As Eugene Peterson renders Jesus\u2019 challenge in the paraphrase called The Message<\/em>:  \u201cAre you listening?  Really listening?\u201d 

Author and educator Parker Palmer once said, concerning a man who seemed to have all of life\u2019s mysteries figured out, \u201cHe got straight A\u2019s but flunked life.\u201d 

The difference between hearing and listening is whether we\u2019re ready to do more than just pass a theological pop quiz. 

Are we willing to let Jesus take the wheel?

Until then, he\u2019ll just be a really nice fellow we once met. 
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Walter Cronkite, the long-time CBS anchor who became \u201cAmerica\u2019s most trusted voice,\u201d lived into his early 90s. His affable spirit, commitment to journalistic integrity, and deep love for his wife Betsy never faltered.  His hearing was a different matter.  Betsy was fond of telling about the time when the two of them, late in life, walked into a little grocery… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[142],"class_list":["post-417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hearing-vs-listening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417","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=417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}