Fab found this story...I forgot to ask where. But it gets you thinking about what each of us is listening for in our daily lives. I've written the story from memory in my own words but it'll give you the gist of it.
An Indian man was visiting a friend of his who lived in New York. Walking in the heart of Manhattan city amidst the hustle and bustle of traffic and rushing people, the man stopped in his tracks and turned to his friend, "Hey, I just heard a cricket". "A what?! A cricket?" came his friend's response. "Yes, a cricket. There, I just heard it again". "Are you mad, man? We're in the middle of a crowded noisy city. Taxis are blaring their horns, people are yelling, there's so much going on and you think you can hear a cricket? You've got to be kidding me", his cynical friend replied.
The Indian man grabbed his friend by the arm and said, "here, come with me!". He walked towards one of the nearby buildings and hesitated. "No, it's not here", he mumbled. Off he went towards another building and another. "Nope, not here either".
Finally he came to a tree across the road, knelt down, dug around a bit in the soil and lo and behold pulled out a little cricket. "See, a cricket!" "Unbelievable! That's amazing! How on earth did you do that?" his surprised friend asked. "Ah, it just depends on what you're listening for", he said as he fished out a small handful of loose change from one of his pockets.
"Watch this", and as he made that remark, the Indian man walked onto the pavement and dropped the coins. Immediately all surrounding passers-by stopped short and turned towards the sound of the coins hitting the sidewalk.
(End of Story)
(My thoughts)
What are you listening for? What are the sounds you recognise and respond to? Do you hear the voice of God every single day? Do you sense the Holy Spirit's prompting and obey it? Do you commune with the Lord?
I'm sensitive to noises when I am about to sleep. I can't sleep if someone is breathing heavily, even if that person is me. I can't sleep if there is any snoring. Or people talking, even whispering, or if I suddenly hear birds singing or animals calling out to one another or rustling in the trees.
Sometimes if the sound of rain on the roof is too loud, it takes me a longer time to doze off. Of course this is all dependent on how tired I am as there are nights I probably sleep through most common sounds. There are sounds I can eventually learn to drown out like that of my fan or maybe even a faint, distant TV noise if it stays at a constant tone. Sometimes, anyway.
I realise that when I'm out of the house, I can be very sensitive to the tone of peoples' voices, particularly if it is a male voice. I immediately become cautious and wary if I hear raised voices, or a rowdy group approaching. It's happened a number of times now. Fab and I will be out having lunch somewhere and suddenly all I am able to focus on is the man sitting behind Fab talking loudly and swearing on his mobile. I notice I tend to listen in to make sure it is not a hostile situation. That the person is not likely to disrupt the peace and hurt anyone, especially us.
Sometimes little incidents can make me feel really ill and I lose my appetite. Like the time I caught a man touching a waitresses' hand, which made her really uncomfortable. He wasn't loud but he made me feel sick and I couldn't continue with my dinner.
If my attention was always on God. If my ears were pricked to hear His voice, my mind and heart would probably be more at ease. I could ask for His direction, for His opinion, for His perspective and peace. How many times do we act before really listening?
Maybe we only listen to part of what He is saying and run ahead of Him. Maybe we hear Him but we don't respond. Maybe we try to argue or reason or negotiate and include our own justifications. I know I am certainly guilty of all of that. He knows the stunts I pull and is very clever to deal with them.
Many times He tends to just leave me to work it out because eventually I have to admit He's right when things are so clearly stated in His Word or have been confirmed by someone else. Sometimes He stays silent to prompt me to seek to discover what the truth is if it isn't so plain.
An Indian man was visiting a friend of his who lived in New York. Walking in the heart of Manhattan city amidst the hustle and bustle of traffic and rushing people, the man stopped in his tracks and turned to his friend, "Hey, I just heard a cricket". "A what?! A cricket?" came his friend's response. "Yes, a cricket. There, I just heard it again". "Are you mad, man? We're in the middle of a crowded noisy city. Taxis are blaring their horns, people are yelling, there's so much going on and you think you can hear a cricket? You've got to be kidding me", his cynical friend replied.
The Indian man grabbed his friend by the arm and said, "here, come with me!". He walked towards one of the nearby buildings and hesitated. "No, it's not here", he mumbled. Off he went towards another building and another. "Nope, not here either".
Finally he came to a tree across the road, knelt down, dug around a bit in the soil and lo and behold pulled out a little cricket. "See, a cricket!" "Unbelievable! That's amazing! How on earth did you do that?" his surprised friend asked. "Ah, it just depends on what you're listening for", he said as he fished out a small handful of loose change from one of his pockets.
"Watch this", and as he made that remark, the Indian man walked onto the pavement and dropped the coins. Immediately all surrounding passers-by stopped short and turned towards the sound of the coins hitting the sidewalk.
(End of Story)
(My thoughts)
What are you listening for? What are the sounds you recognise and respond to? Do you hear the voice of God every single day? Do you sense the Holy Spirit's prompting and obey it? Do you commune with the Lord?
I'm sensitive to noises when I am about to sleep. I can't sleep if someone is breathing heavily, even if that person is me. I can't sleep if there is any snoring. Or people talking, even whispering, or if I suddenly hear birds singing or animals calling out to one another or rustling in the trees.
Sometimes if the sound of rain on the roof is too loud, it takes me a longer time to doze off. Of course this is all dependent on how tired I am as there are nights I probably sleep through most common sounds. There are sounds I can eventually learn to drown out like that of my fan or maybe even a faint, distant TV noise if it stays at a constant tone. Sometimes, anyway.
I realise that when I'm out of the house, I can be very sensitive to the tone of peoples' voices, particularly if it is a male voice. I immediately become cautious and wary if I hear raised voices, or a rowdy group approaching. It's happened a number of times now. Fab and I will be out having lunch somewhere and suddenly all I am able to focus on is the man sitting behind Fab talking loudly and swearing on his mobile. I notice I tend to listen in to make sure it is not a hostile situation. That the person is not likely to disrupt the peace and hurt anyone, especially us.
Sometimes little incidents can make me feel really ill and I lose my appetite. Like the time I caught a man touching a waitresses' hand, which made her really uncomfortable. He wasn't loud but he made me feel sick and I couldn't continue with my dinner.
If my attention was always on God. If my ears were pricked to hear His voice, my mind and heart would probably be more at ease. I could ask for His direction, for His opinion, for His perspective and peace. How many times do we act before really listening?
Maybe we only listen to part of what He is saying and run ahead of Him. Maybe we hear Him but we don't respond. Maybe we try to argue or reason or negotiate and include our own justifications. I know I am certainly guilty of all of that. He knows the stunts I pull and is very clever to deal with them.
Many times He tends to just leave me to work it out because eventually I have to admit He's right when things are so clearly stated in His Word or have been confirmed by someone else. Sometimes He stays silent to prompt me to seek to discover what the truth is if it isn't so plain.
1 comment:
Good stuff here. Thanks to Fab for a great find!
Hope you're well, my friend.
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