My friend Barb just asked me a question .... did I give up on my blog?
The answer is ... not deliberately; but things "got in the way" and here I am nearly five months later and nothing written inbetween. Not much reading going on, not much writing going on ... but still a God whose grace is sufficient for me!
What a time those months inbetween have been ....
Sunday 2 May 2010
Thursday 14 January 2010
Listening - lessons from the medical profession
My admiration of those who cope with chronic pain has grown in the last few weeks. Thanks to some problems with my jaw and other dental issues I've been all over the place between pain and also medication to help with the pain. In this time I've found it can be very hard to concentrate; when I am weak, then I am strong - so I need to learn to lean on God more as my source of strength.
Something that has also stood out in the last few weeks is the power of listening. This is something I was aware of before and knew to be a great gift however dealing with the medical profession it has been reinforced. On the one hand there are those who pay very little attention to what is said; hand you a remedy for what they believe is a problem and then you are left to wonder why when reading the directions for the said remedy it specifies it should be used to address none of the symptoms you've actually mentioned. Then you have those precious few who listen. Who take the time to actually hear what you are saying; who ask questions to clarify; who reiterate what is said to double check they really do have a clear picture. How precious and priceless these people are both in the medical profession and indeed everywhere.
In the book of James, chapter one we are taught many things about listening. We are told to be "... quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" and that as well as listening to the word we must also do what it is we have heard. Listening then is something we should seek to become good at; because as well as being quick to listen we also need to be sure that what we are listening to is right, that it is good and that it is God. How easy it is to be like those earlier medical professionals and read or hear something yet come away completing missing the point. Instead we should be like the one who takes the time to listen carefully. We need to search the scriptures diligently; to ask questions as we seek truth and to ask also for wisdom from God (which James also reminds us is there for the asking). Then when we have listened and rightly discerned the word of God ... we need to act on what we have heard and in so doing carry out the will of God and glorify our King.
Something that has also stood out in the last few weeks is the power of listening. This is something I was aware of before and knew to be a great gift however dealing with the medical profession it has been reinforced. On the one hand there are those who pay very little attention to what is said; hand you a remedy for what they believe is a problem and then you are left to wonder why when reading the directions for the said remedy it specifies it should be used to address none of the symptoms you've actually mentioned. Then you have those precious few who listen. Who take the time to actually hear what you are saying; who ask questions to clarify; who reiterate what is said to double check they really do have a clear picture. How precious and priceless these people are both in the medical profession and indeed everywhere.
In the book of James, chapter one we are taught many things about listening. We are told to be "... quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" and that as well as listening to the word we must also do what it is we have heard. Listening then is something we should seek to become good at; because as well as being quick to listen we also need to be sure that what we are listening to is right, that it is good and that it is God. How easy it is to be like those earlier medical professionals and read or hear something yet come away completing missing the point. Instead we should be like the one who takes the time to listen carefully. We need to search the scriptures diligently; to ask questions as we seek truth and to ask also for wisdom from God (which James also reminds us is there for the asking). Then when we have listened and rightly discerned the word of God ... we need to act on what we have heard and in so doing carry out the will of God and glorify our King.
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