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Archives: December 2009
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Archives: December 2009
Dont forget the baby...
By Kate Forrester
With my multi-tasking talent I think I could quite easily dribble a basketball with one hand, prepare a tasty casserole with the other, put on a pair of shoes, read a short novel, play the harmonica and ballroom dance all at the same time…I’m also very modest.
There’s a fine art to being able to balance a million different things at the same time like an expert plate spinner, but then there’s the question of how much you can balance at once in your relationships with others and God. Has your listening juice been diluted by distractions, or are you 100% concentrate?
Sometimes I ask myself the question, how much am I listening? I mean really listening. In today’s world of short attention spans, there are many methods to avoid listening. One of my friends came up with the term ‘Shoulder Surfing’ to explain how they would ‘surf’ over the shoulder of someone they were having a conversation with at a party, to see if there was anyone better around to talk to instead.
Then there’s the ‘selective hearing’ of my younger years, when very conveniently I “didn’t hear” when I was asked to do chores. I’m sure you’ve heard the familiar saying that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason, but I think this is more than just a saying; being a good listener is something that can make us stand out as Christians. So many of us are desperate to talk to someone who is just going to listen, attentively and carefully. Being that person who will listen shows care, patience, and above all love.
In James 1:19 we’re told to be ‘quick to listen’. It might sound like a listening race, where the fastest listener wins, but in fact it means quite the opposite. True listening is time consuming. Being a quick listener means that we should encourage others to offload in the comfort of knowing that you care enough to patiently absorb what they’re saying. I used to live in perpetual fear of the ‘awkward silence’, which meant that instead of listening, I was distracted by thinking of things to say in case everything went quiet. I would make ridiculous conversation about whether feet could look a bit like hands if you squint. It took a while to realise that I was getting too concerned about filling the space where I should be listening. I should be someone to talk to rather than at.
Especially during Christmas there are millions of opportunities to get caught up in the sparkling lights and fake snow machines. During December space for listening in quietness can be difficult to find. Christmas distractions are almost as common as wintertime television appearances of Cliff Richard.
There are the thoughts of buying presents, decorating the house, cooking the dinner, going to parties, and in the midst of all these bright and attention grabbing activities it’s easy to get caught up in the pudding and lose out on the peace. It’s all too common to forget the real reason why we’re celebrating December 25th.
When Jesus goes to visit Martha and Mary in Luke’s gospel, we see a similar situation of listening vs. distraction. In the listening corner we have Mary, who kneels at Jesus’ feet, focused only on him and his words, attentively absorbing everything he has to say. And in distraction kitchen there’s Martha, who is ‘distracted’ by cooking the meal (maybe a bit like the Christmas dinner). Martha finds it unfair that she is multi-tasking while Mary is only listening. Mary is quick to listen, whereas Martha is too busy and distracted to spend quality time listening to Jesus.
Like Martha’s kitchen, we face constant battles for our attention. Sometimes it feels like we can’t concentrate on one thing at a time. We talk to our friends while we work at the computer, eat while we watch television, work while we listen to music. Though none of these things are bad in themselves, we have to be careful that our God time isn’t balanced against a background of similar distractions.
In our relationship with God, distraction is destructive, and sometimes it can come in unlikely forms. Jesus makes it clear that we need to listen and focus on him before we are moved to action, and it’s wise to remember this. Listening to God acts as a safety valve, preventing what we do, even for Him, from being distractive. Nurturing that close relationship with Him - and in the process really doing what he wants us to - should be number one.
After Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 17:5, God says, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him’. This Christmas, are you listening? Is your God-radar tuned into the right station and are you plugged in, or is Jesus just on in the background like the Queen’s speech?
About the author
Kate is great. This is the second time she has written for us, and we think she's done a good job. She's currently doing a PhD researching Christmas Literature, which means she must be sick of the festive season already! She likes walking, french pop music (don't we all) and eats too many satsumas.
About the photo
The photo is taken from Flickr, by a user called radioflyer007 and is used here under a Creative Commons License, of which we're grateful.
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