listening Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Someone To Tell It To

Surprised By Listening

September 8, 2016

“The first duty of love is to listen.” ~Paul Tillich The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college I needed a job to help pay my way through school. A dad of a very close friend of mine offered me a position as a security guard at a local hospital in New Jersey—after…
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Cure Without Care

August 23, 2016

“Our tendency is to run away from the painful realities or to try to change them as soon as possible. But cure without care makes us into rulers, controllers, manipulators, and prevents a real community from taking shape. Cure without care makes us preoccupied with quick changes, impatient and unwilling to share each other’s burden.…
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The Party Wouldn’t be a Party Without You

August 4, 2016

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” —Dr. Seuss “So, you…just listen?” We certainly didn’t expect the response we received…
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Eyes

July 31, 2016

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” –Khalil Gibran “Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus—a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.” -Mother Teresa This next…
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Friends

July 29, 2016

“Don’t judge a book by its cover when you don’t understand what that person’s been through.” –Corrie Louise Rose Isn’t that true for all of us? If others really knew who we were on the inside, knowing our true vulnerabilities, our insecurities, our wounds, our pains, they couldn’t help but have empathy for us.…
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Remember

July 13, 2016

“To love another person is to see the face of God.” Victor Hugo (Les Miserables) “Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.” Leo Tolstoy “In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it dazzled me.” Augustine of Hippo We…
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This Crucible of Love

July 5, 2016

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell,…
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Look Up

June 28, 2016

“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” —Lucius Annaeus Seneca Sadly, far too few of us have relationships in which we truly understand and are understood. During a question and answer time after a noontime talk we gave to a local civic group, a man in…
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Easter Terror (Running Away From “Home”)

March 25, 2016

Easter Sunday 1994. It was a great day! The morning church services went well on our first Easter in Hershey. Both of our families were here to celebrate the holiday, and my wife, Kathy, my two sons, Adam and David, and I were leaving the next morning for a 12-day trip to Honolulu and San…
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Take the Long Way Home (To Be a Better Listener)

March 4, 2016

Several years ago, when I was in graduate school, a close friend shared very openly and honestly about the relationship she had with her dad growing up, “My dad is my hero. What he did for our family is remarkable.” I wanted to know more, so I asked her just what made him such an…
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