Is Any Body Listening?
Robert K. Greenleaf from the essay “Religious Leaders As Seekers and Servants” in the book Seeker And Servant. "Is anybody listening? Are able and discriminating persons listening, people who are willing to work hard to get the skills, to put forth the effort, and take the risks to lead? If a prophet speaks and is not heard, and if no able leader supplies the necessary persuasive powers, the prophet’s vision may wither away."
A quick Google search indicates some recent examples of listening in the news.
“Israeli officials' reported comments that Tehran has been building listening stations in Syria to intercept Israeli military communications (…).”
“’More than anything else, I listen,’ said Msgr. Giusta, who is nearly three months into his new position at Emory University Healthcare System. He is learning that patients can inspire faith and listening is more valuable than talking.”
Australian politician - “Brendan Nelson has responded to critics claims that his 'listening tour' is a thinly veiled vehicle of self-promotion.”
New York - “It’s a Thursday night, and a small group of young music enthusiasts have gathered in a Williamsburg apartment with our six packs of specialty beer and our pizza-making ingredients. But the 12 of us present have come together this evening to do more than socialize. (…). The group—all white, professional men in their mid-twenties— have been offering a listening series over the last few months, encouraging each other to absorb a different album on each visit by their favorite singer-songwriter: Paul Simon.”
An Opinion by Richard Humphries - “After the defeat of his ‘comprehensive’ illegal-immigration bill last year, Sen. John McCain says that he got the message and will now listen to the will of the people. The reason that the bill was defeated was because it contained a provision to allow those here illegally to stay here, a concept called ‘amnesty.’ Now the senator says that, to heed the will of the people, his first priority is to secure our border from illegal trespass, while in the same breath telling us that the illegals who have succeeded in sneaking in (or who have overstayed their visas) should be allowed to remain and given a path to citizenship. After all, he says, they are ‘God's children,’ too. We, the people to whom he now says he is listening, have clearly told him that we don't want any form of amnesty, so how can he be ‘listening’ to us?”
Texas District Judge Bascom Bentley - “My daddy owned a building in downtown Palestine. It was where they had the domino hall. It wasn’t good for anything else. I had an opportunity to sit in there when I was growing up. They had pool tables up front and domino tables in back. Between them against the wall was a shoeshine stand. I’d sit up in that shoeshine stand in the evenings, afternoons, as much as I could and listen to those characters tell stories. I heard about war stories and bootleggers; you name it, they talked about it. I can drive by that place today and tears come to my eyes. The building’s gone but I loved it. I hate change. I weep when we move furniture. But I’d practically kill to spend another hour just listening to those old stories. I wish I had asked questions, but mostly you just wanted to blend into the woodwork. Some of those stories were pretty tough and rough. I liked those even better.”
So who is listening as Greenleaf suggests and whose visions will wither away?
A quick Google search indicates some recent examples of listening in the news.
“Israeli officials' reported comments that Tehran has been building listening stations in Syria to intercept Israeli military communications (…).”
“’More than anything else, I listen,’ said Msgr. Giusta, who is nearly three months into his new position at Emory University Healthcare System. He is learning that patients can inspire faith and listening is more valuable than talking.”
Australian politician - “Brendan Nelson has responded to critics claims that his 'listening tour' is a thinly veiled vehicle of self-promotion.”
New York - “It’s a Thursday night, and a small group of young music enthusiasts have gathered in a Williamsburg apartment with our six packs of specialty beer and our pizza-making ingredients. But the 12 of us present have come together this evening to do more than socialize. (…). The group—all white, professional men in their mid-twenties— have been offering a listening series over the last few months, encouraging each other to absorb a different album on each visit by their favorite singer-songwriter: Paul Simon.”
An Opinion by Richard Humphries - “After the defeat of his ‘comprehensive’ illegal-immigration bill last year, Sen. John McCain says that he got the message and will now listen to the will of the people. The reason that the bill was defeated was because it contained a provision to allow those here illegally to stay here, a concept called ‘amnesty.’ Now the senator says that, to heed the will of the people, his first priority is to secure our border from illegal trespass, while in the same breath telling us that the illegals who have succeeded in sneaking in (or who have overstayed their visas) should be allowed to remain and given a path to citizenship. After all, he says, they are ‘God's children,’ too. We, the people to whom he now says he is listening, have clearly told him that we don't want any form of amnesty, so how can he be ‘listening’ to us?”
Texas District Judge Bascom Bentley - “My daddy owned a building in downtown Palestine. It was where they had the domino hall. It wasn’t good for anything else. I had an opportunity to sit in there when I was growing up. They had pool tables up front and domino tables in back. Between them against the wall was a shoeshine stand. I’d sit up in that shoeshine stand in the evenings, afternoons, as much as I could and listen to those characters tell stories. I heard about war stories and bootleggers; you name it, they talked about it. I can drive by that place today and tears come to my eyes. The building’s gone but I loved it. I hate change. I weep when we move furniture. But I’d practically kill to spend another hour just listening to those old stories. I wish I had asked questions, but mostly you just wanted to blend into the woodwork. Some of those stories were pretty tough and rough. I liked those even better.”
So who is listening as Greenleaf suggests and whose visions will wither away?
posted by Tom Jablonski at 9:33 PM
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