I Hear You

Freedom of speech carries with it some freedom to listen.

Bob Marley
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To listen is one of those freedoms few people ever seem to take advantage of. It's easy to get people to stop listening. If I tell you everything you want to hear you won't listen to anything else I have to say. That's the secret behind political rhetoric.

As an actor one of the best lessons I learned was the importance of listening. Even if you've heard the other character's speech a hundred times you have to listen to it carefully and let it sink into your thoughts or you won't be abler to respond accurately and artistically.

I used to teach a seminar in public speaking and one of the things I told my class was that when you are addressing a room full of people on a controversial issue there are three types of listeners: those who agree with you, those who don't and those who aren't sure. Those who agree with you will continue to agree. You want to convince those who aren't sure and make them believers. The best you can probably hope to accomplish with those who disagree is to make them unsure. But in any case they are there to listen to you.

If you are talking only to people who agree with you then there isn't much need for rhetoric of any kind and any argument is pointless. Such was the case with the recent rally in DC to honor our troops as if they weren't being honored. Who doesn't honor our troops even if one disagrees with the wars? Where was the argument? What was the issue?

When there are opposing points of view they have the right to be heard and considered. But at some of the various town meetings across the country in regard to the health care program people came not to discuss or to listen to their elected representatives or to learn the facts, they didn't come in with polemics or opposing arguments or to reason but to yell, insult and disrupt, all under the banner of freedom of speech. The freedom to listen was not exercised.

There is no doubt that the freedom of speech, as with freedom of the press and other rights, are misused. But the freedom to listen isn't.

DB - The Vagabond
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AUTUMN QUESTION

(This is not a contest.)

At what event of the past do you wish you could be present? Why?

1 response so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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The Word

No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently.

Agnes de Mille
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Now don't worry. I'm not trying to convert you to anything.
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And he [the Lord] said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind and earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
-- I Kings 19: 11-12 (KJV)
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John I:1
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When was the last time you heard the word? It only comes from listening. And it only comes when you need it, otherwise you're on your own. It doesn't come with any drama. In spite of what some angry, befuddled preachers are trying to tell us, the word is not in the hurricane, "the Lord was not in the wind." The word is a quiet voice with more authority than an earthquake.

We may pray for a miracle but if we don't get one it means we don't need it. But sometimes the word comes when we ask for it. Calmly, without creating our own whirlwind, we may hear the still, small voice telling us what to do when faced with a bunch of choices, which way to go or which way not to go. (Socrates lived with such a voice his whole life.) And it always comes as your voice and no one else's, that is, it comes exactly in the way you need it. It's not intuition, a hunch or gut reaction, although those things are often valuable. It's more like a quiet voice whispering in your mind. The voice may say something you would never consciously think of yourself. or even know about.

One day I was faced with having to do a particularly nasty and gruesome job. I didn't want to do it. I put it aside and rested. While I was resting I said quietly to myself, Why do I have to take care of this awful stuff? And in a moment the still small voice in my mind said "Because you are the only one in this organization who knows how to do it." I didn't know that, but that was the answer. So I went ahead and finished the task.

That was just one example of the many times the word has been there for me when I needed it. I think the greatest and most life fulfilling wisdom is already there in the word, waiting to be asked and listened to.

Unfortunately there is a reverse side to this coin. Some people hear voices that tell them to go out and do destructive things, and for some strange reason they believe it's the voice of God talking to them. The word is a word of truth. It does not tell people to speak against goodness, to influence erroneously, to rob, kidnap, murder, blow up buildings or themselves. "the Lord was not in the fire" The answer to that kind of madness is to know that you can tell a tree by it's fruit, as the saying goes, to be able to recognize a right word from a wrong one and to develop a good defense made of strong moral fibre. That is something that one should learn in school but, alas, these days it's only to be wished, I guess. If by any chance you start hearing those voices take yourself immediately off to a shrink but otherwise pay no attention to them.

You can always ask "Is that the right choice?" and listen for the quiet answer.

DB - The Vagabond
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Sunday Puzzle Answer

The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.
A secret word opens the treasure chest.
Can you discover the secret word?

I'm found at MacDonald's.
I'm good for a view.
I don't take to camels.
But I might be on your shoe.

The secret word is -- EYE

Old MacDonald had a farm
Good for viewing
Can't get one through a needle
To put your lace through

There were no winners, alas.
DB
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WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Hold your breath, Spring is coming any minute

Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.

You have the Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
Only 21 responses so far.

DB - The Vagabond