The Sacred Art of Listening

I am "into" listening and silence.  There is a wonderful book titled:  The Sacred Art of Listening by Kay Lindahl that includes short passages about the importance of listening.  For leaders, listening is particularly critical because most leaders probably emerged because of their ability to influence others through talking. 

But Lindahl reminds us that listening is at the heart of all spiritual practices.  In this 24/7 world in which we live and work, there is not much silence.  The spirit is at work, but we are too busy and there is too much noise to hear our inner wisdom.

We must make room for more silence in our lives.  Stillness is needed to hear what is important.  We need to slow down and listen deeply to others.  Pause before speaking to give yourself time to respond.  Listen without judgment. 

We need to disconnect in order to connect with the people who are important to us.  How about face time instead of Facebook?