The Art of Listening
Stories
Contents
“The Art of Listening” by Keith Wagner
“God, Our Teacher” by Keith Wagner
The Art of Listening
by Keith Wagner
Proverbs 1:20-33
In my very first sermon in the summer of 1980, I used the expression, “If God wanted us to speak more than we are to listen, God would have created us with two mouths and only one ear.” Following the worship service I was standing in the back of the church greeting those who had come that day for worship. A woman who was a visitor, said to me, “I am visiting here today and I really enjoyed your message. Please don’t leave because I have something for you.” She came back about five minutes later after going to her car. She handed me a beautiful wooden plaque with the following words engraved upon it: “If God wanted us to speak more than we are to listen, God would have created us with two mouths and only one ear.”
That experience stayed with me my entire ministry. I kept the placard on my office wall. Since that moment I have tried to make listening an important attribute. I have to confess I have not always been a good listener. I remember a few times in elementary school I was sent to stand in the hall because I was talking to another student instead of listening to my teacher.
Years later I taught Interviewing and Counseling Techniques at Edison Community College. My course included a variety of lessons on the importance of listening. I learned that non-verbal listening was crucial as a counseling technique. Overtime I came to believe that empathic listening was the key to helping people who were troubled.
August is the time when professional football begins their preseason competition. Traditionally, during the beginning of the football season, the movie, “Rudy”, with Sean Astin, is always aired on television. It’s the story of a young man who pursued his dream of playing football for Notre Dame. For me, the real climax of the movie is right after Rudy quits the team. Rudy had just found out that he was not going to dress for the last game of his senior year. His friend on the maintenance crew at the stadium told him “to listen” and not walk away from his dream. Rudy heard him and went to practice with the team. His teammates were so moved by his determination they convinced the coach, Dan Divine, to let Rudy dress for the last game. He did and with the support of the team, coaches and fans, Rudy got to play the last two plays of the game. He made a tackle and he was carried off the field by his teammates, something that had not happened to any player in the last thirty years at Notre Dame.
I can relate to the words in verse 33, “Whoever listens to me shall live without care, undisturbed by fear of misfortune.” About ten years ago I was diagnosed with a severe hearing loss. It was a result of my military service while serving aboard a Navy ship. My wife, who I try to listen to but often ignore, encouraged me to get a hearing test. It was determined I was almost deaf in one ear and had a hearing impairment in the other ear. After acquiring hearing aids my life totally changed. I began hearing sounds I hadn’t heard in years. For example, I didn’t realize that the turn signals on my car made a sound. I also discovered that while I could hear men’s voices clearly, I could not hear women’s voices because of the higher pitch. Prior to wearing hearing aids I would nod when someone said something to me indicating I had heard what they said, but in reality I didn’t have a clue.
Over the years I have really come to appreciate the importance of listening. Thank God for hearing aids. Now that I wear them I hear my wife’s voice more distinctly. I hear students in the classroom and also what parishioners say to me as they leave the sanctuary.
* * *
God, Our Teacher
by Keith Wagner
Isaiah 50:4-9a
In college I worked for the college service department. I made deliveries, ran errands and drove all the different vehicles including a dump truck, pick-up truck and van. Not only did that opportunity help to pay my college expenses, it gave me a lot of experience interacting with many different companies and their employees.
What I learned from that experience was that much happens behind the scenes of academia that is overshadowed by our lessons in the classroom. I am proud of my liberal arts education, but I believe I learned just as much interacting with working people on a daily basis.
Isaiah learned from God because he was receptive. He had a daily discipline of listening and constantly being in touch with the redeeming voice of God. By developing skills of interacting and listening to a variety of people I learned the importance of getting along with all kinds of people. Isaiah was one of God’s teachers and I believe one of his best students. For Isaiah, teaching meant comforting the afflicted and giving assurance.
In Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul, Rich Kornoelje tells the story about one of his students. Rich was the assistant principal at a very large public high school. One of his duties was to supervise the lunch room making sure students were diligent in picking up their lunch trays and not leaving any messes.
One day, prior to vacation, the students were fairly wound up. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that a student spilled milk. What a mess. It was all down the front of him, on the table and the floor. He watched to see what he would do. He was sure he would escape the cafeteria without cleaning up the mess. He vowed to punish him by making him clean up everyone else’s mess for the day.
To his surprise the student returned to the snack bar and gathered up several napkins. He then returned to his table and cleaned up the mess. He even got on his hands and knees and cleaned the milk from the floor. After regaining his composure, Rich followed the young man out of the cafeteria. He caught up with him and thanked him for his cooperation. “No problem,” the young man said.
Later Rich discovered who the student was and decided to contact the young man’s parents. Normally his calls to parents were about their misdeeds. The boy’s mother answered and Rich responded. “Your son showed me something today that really demonstrated some good upbringing.” He then went on to relay the rest of the story. At the other end of the phone line Rich heard sobbing and sniffling. Finally his mother replied, “You will never in your entire lifetime realize what your phone call has meant to me. My husband left me several years ago and I have tried to raise my son alone. He behaves at home but I never know how he does in public. Your phone call has meant everything to me.”
Rather than jump to conclusions Rich waited and ultimately responded with kindness. His single phone call became a life-changing experience. From then on he tried to make more positive calls to parents.
One time, while working for the college service department, I delivered some donations to the college thrift shop. While carrying in several boxes I overheard the workers in the thrift shop talking about the upstairs apartment. I was unaware that the second floor of the thrift shop was an apartment for a college student who needed a place to live. I asked one of the workers and she told me it was currently vacant. To make a long story short, I became the next resident in the apartment during my sophomore year in college. There was no rent. My only duties were to do some minor chores to keep the building clean. Thanks to the ladies at the thrift shop I had my own private apartment right on campus.
*****************************************
StoryShare, September 16, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“The Art of Listening” by Keith Wagner
“God, Our Teacher” by Keith Wagner
The Art of Listening
by Keith Wagner
Proverbs 1:20-33
In my very first sermon in the summer of 1980, I used the expression, “If God wanted us to speak more than we are to listen, God would have created us with two mouths and only one ear.” Following the worship service I was standing in the back of the church greeting those who had come that day for worship. A woman who was a visitor, said to me, “I am visiting here today and I really enjoyed your message. Please don’t leave because I have something for you.” She came back about five minutes later after going to her car. She handed me a beautiful wooden plaque with the following words engraved upon it: “If God wanted us to speak more than we are to listen, God would have created us with two mouths and only one ear.”
That experience stayed with me my entire ministry. I kept the placard on my office wall. Since that moment I have tried to make listening an important attribute. I have to confess I have not always been a good listener. I remember a few times in elementary school I was sent to stand in the hall because I was talking to another student instead of listening to my teacher.
Years later I taught Interviewing and Counseling Techniques at Edison Community College. My course included a variety of lessons on the importance of listening. I learned that non-verbal listening was crucial as a counseling technique. Overtime I came to believe that empathic listening was the key to helping people who were troubled.
August is the time when professional football begins their preseason competition. Traditionally, during the beginning of the football season, the movie, “Rudy”, with Sean Astin, is always aired on television. It’s the story of a young man who pursued his dream of playing football for Notre Dame. For me, the real climax of the movie is right after Rudy quits the team. Rudy had just found out that he was not going to dress for the last game of his senior year. His friend on the maintenance crew at the stadium told him “to listen” and not walk away from his dream. Rudy heard him and went to practice with the team. His teammates were so moved by his determination they convinced the coach, Dan Divine, to let Rudy dress for the last game. He did and with the support of the team, coaches and fans, Rudy got to play the last two plays of the game. He made a tackle and he was carried off the field by his teammates, something that had not happened to any player in the last thirty years at Notre Dame.
I can relate to the words in verse 33, “Whoever listens to me shall live without care, undisturbed by fear of misfortune.” About ten years ago I was diagnosed with a severe hearing loss. It was a result of my military service while serving aboard a Navy ship. My wife, who I try to listen to but often ignore, encouraged me to get a hearing test. It was determined I was almost deaf in one ear and had a hearing impairment in the other ear. After acquiring hearing aids my life totally changed. I began hearing sounds I hadn’t heard in years. For example, I didn’t realize that the turn signals on my car made a sound. I also discovered that while I could hear men’s voices clearly, I could not hear women’s voices because of the higher pitch. Prior to wearing hearing aids I would nod when someone said something to me indicating I had heard what they said, but in reality I didn’t have a clue.
Over the years I have really come to appreciate the importance of listening. Thank God for hearing aids. Now that I wear them I hear my wife’s voice more distinctly. I hear students in the classroom and also what parishioners say to me as they leave the sanctuary.
* * *
God, Our Teacher
by Keith Wagner
Isaiah 50:4-9a
In college I worked for the college service department. I made deliveries, ran errands and drove all the different vehicles including a dump truck, pick-up truck and van. Not only did that opportunity help to pay my college expenses, it gave me a lot of experience interacting with many different companies and their employees.
What I learned from that experience was that much happens behind the scenes of academia that is overshadowed by our lessons in the classroom. I am proud of my liberal arts education, but I believe I learned just as much interacting with working people on a daily basis.
Isaiah learned from God because he was receptive. He had a daily discipline of listening and constantly being in touch with the redeeming voice of God. By developing skills of interacting and listening to a variety of people I learned the importance of getting along with all kinds of people. Isaiah was one of God’s teachers and I believe one of his best students. For Isaiah, teaching meant comforting the afflicted and giving assurance.
In Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul, Rich Kornoelje tells the story about one of his students. Rich was the assistant principal at a very large public high school. One of his duties was to supervise the lunch room making sure students were diligent in picking up their lunch trays and not leaving any messes.
One day, prior to vacation, the students were fairly wound up. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that a student spilled milk. What a mess. It was all down the front of him, on the table and the floor. He watched to see what he would do. He was sure he would escape the cafeteria without cleaning up the mess. He vowed to punish him by making him clean up everyone else’s mess for the day.
To his surprise the student returned to the snack bar and gathered up several napkins. He then returned to his table and cleaned up the mess. He even got on his hands and knees and cleaned the milk from the floor. After regaining his composure, Rich followed the young man out of the cafeteria. He caught up with him and thanked him for his cooperation. “No problem,” the young man said.
Later Rich discovered who the student was and decided to contact the young man’s parents. Normally his calls to parents were about their misdeeds. The boy’s mother answered and Rich responded. “Your son showed me something today that really demonstrated some good upbringing.” He then went on to relay the rest of the story. At the other end of the phone line Rich heard sobbing and sniffling. Finally his mother replied, “You will never in your entire lifetime realize what your phone call has meant to me. My husband left me several years ago and I have tried to raise my son alone. He behaves at home but I never know how he does in public. Your phone call has meant everything to me.”
Rather than jump to conclusions Rich waited and ultimately responded with kindness. His single phone call became a life-changing experience. From then on he tried to make more positive calls to parents.
One time, while working for the college service department, I delivered some donations to the college thrift shop. While carrying in several boxes I overheard the workers in the thrift shop talking about the upstairs apartment. I was unaware that the second floor of the thrift shop was an apartment for a college student who needed a place to live. I asked one of the workers and she told me it was currently vacant. To make a long story short, I became the next resident in the apartment during my sophomore year in college. There was no rent. My only duties were to do some minor chores to keep the building clean. Thanks to the ladies at the thrift shop I had my own private apartment right on campus.
*****************************************
StoryShare, September 16, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
