In his book titled Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom narrates the following incident.
A little girl came home from school with a drawing that she had done in class. Very happy and excited, she danced into the kitchen where her mother was preparing dinner. “Mom, guess what?” she squealed, waving her drawing. The mother never looked up. “What?” she asked, busy cutting the vegetables. “Guess what?” the child repeated holding up her drawing. “What?” the mother asked, washing the plates. “Mom, you’re not listening,” said the girl impatiently. “Yes, darling, I’m listening,” replied the mother. “Mom,” responded the girl with frustration in her voice, “you’re not listening with your eyes.”
One of the greatest services that a superior can do is to be an attentive listener – ‘to listen with the eyes.’
What is Listening?
Listening is more than just hearing. Hearing refers to sounds entering our ears. This is a physical process that happens automatically, provided we do not have any hearing problems. Listening, on the other hand, is a conscious action, and requires concentration and effort. It involves paying attention to the words and actions of a person, as well as to the intentions conveyed by them. In the incident that we narrated above, the mother ‘heard’ the little girl, but did not ‘listen’ to her. The International Listening Association defines listening as “the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages.”
Fr Jose Kuttianimattathil SDB
To read the entire article, click Subscribe
