Listening, Unibrows and God

Today’s post is from Kyle Reed from the piece of internet real estate, Thoughts About Nothing. I pretty much met Kyle through Twitter and have quickly become impressed with his candor and also his contagious passion for the Church connecting together. I am most encouraged by how he’s allowing God to use him in a big way—and helping pave the way for other young people in ministry. He’s forming a movement called Mentor Me Project that I hope he’ll write about here in the next couple of weeks. But in the meantime, enjoy what he has to say today.

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I am really good at making eye contact. In fact, I think I am one of the best at looking into someones eyes as they talk (I am humble as well). I have a method for my skills that I will pass along to you the reader to better your eye contact skills. Instead of actually looking into another persons eyes, you want to look right in-between their eyes. This takes time to perfect, but it will come. I am so good, that you would have no clue that I am not looking you in the eyes and am instead staring at your unibrow. In fact, I am so focused in on this gift that I normally do not even hear what the other person is saying. Instead I let my eyes do the talking (or is that talking) and stay locked onto that forehead and show good “listening skills.”

I am really good at talking about myself. You would not believe how good I sound when I talk about myself (Remember, I am humble). This skill is greatly complimented by the eye contact skill. I have found that if I make good eye contact it will show that I am interested in what is being said without actually having to be interested. You might think that these two skills could get me a long way with people, and to some degree they have, but I tend to use them the most with God.

I can look towards the heavens, open my arms, keep my mouth shut, and wait with the best of them. But ultimately I am waiting to get the conversation back to me. Usually it goes something like this, “Yes God I know that you want me to be quiet, but can you help me learn how to have more peace in my life.” I use all of my listening skills with God, tuning out what He has to say to get to what I have to say. In my conversations with God I tend to try and play the role reversal game, pretending like I am God and doing the talking. I have found that until I become quiet and listen, God does not talk to me.

It amazes me that listening can be more important then talking. That there can be more power in the way you listen then in the way you talk. I like what this old Chinese proverb says: “To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation…”

Maybe, instead of talking we should start listening.