I live in a three-tier town house. While sitting on the bottom floor the other day I began to hum a familiar tune, well known to Mango our Duck Toller. She was on the top tier. I had just begun to hum when I could hear the padding of paws coming at me with frantic excitement, not unlike the ferocity of an adult moose furiously thrashing through the forest towards the sound of a far away mating call. Arriving at my chair she was highly excited, tail wagging, full Mango smile in tow.
For those who don’t read music, the tune which I devised is entitled; “Going For A Walk With Mango” The Lyrics are; “going for a walk, going for a walk, gonna have a walk with Mango, gonna have a walk.“ It signals to Mango, that she is about to experience something very exciting, the high point of her day, a walk. In order for the music to have any effect, Mango who habitually hears that specific tune needs to both hear and listen. If it were something else, like “three blind mice” or “here comes Santa Claus” she wouldn’t as much as lift an eyebrow. You see for Mango that tune ignites within her a behaviour, an announcement that something most happy and very exciting is about to transpire. Nothing grabs her attention more.
“There’s a cat,” comes a close second. She listens, hears, and responds. As a result, behaviour is activated.
It could be argued that one of the most difficult yet meaningful and healing enterprises in life is found in the art of listening. And we do listen, and hear, voluntarily or involuntarily on a daily, minute by minute basis. We listen to beautiful music, birds singing, the wind blowing through the trees, waves coming off the ocean shore, the rain falling on our roofs at night, a pheasant bleating in our backyard green space, a bubbling brook. These are but a small portion of some of the things that we listen, hear and attune to that bring great calm. Then there are other things that we do not like to hear; a sick baby crying, a dog barking at night, the breaking of a beautiful object as it falls on the floor, yelling and screaming in arguments, and the sound of sirens as we try to sleep.
Although we listen, do we hear? And although we hear, do we listen? If so, what behaviour is activated? Admittedly we don’t hear everything. Sometimes we are selective. Comments like “suppers ready” and “did you take the garbage out“ are either tuned in or out.
Emotional listening is an art. This is when in tandem, we integrate our ears (our hearing) with the innermost part of our heart, the emotional brain. Perhaps our partner has had a horrible day at work, and only wants to express those feelings. No solution needed at this time. So emotionally and actively we pursue her/him intently, ears and heart wide open, as they explain their frustrations. Choice words like; “I am sorry, that must have been horrible, I understand,” as we make eye contact, can offer a solace, a safe place, a calmness, and can activate a positive behavior within them. They have been listened to with both ears and heart. No solution has been offered. That would be the nails on the blackboard approach, creating a further and helpless response. Jesus was probably the greatest listener, with heart and ear in tune. Given that, as we pray, we can with certitude believe that with great focus he is tuned in to our current struggle. That can create a calmness in our soul, instigating a powerful behavioral response. He listens and hears; he hears and listens. In the quiet of your own town house, house, apartment, cottage, park bench, back forty, third hole, hum the tune of your despair to our Lord. Do you hear Him, is he approaching, does a calm help push back the fear, the frustration, the disquiet?
Although found in the prophetic writings, we can with certainty take these words as Jesus words too. Words with a promise attached.
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10”’ NKJV
