My friend, may I ask you a question? Do you need to put away our “self” and put the “self” of friend, neighbor, spouse or child first before our emotional needs? It isn’t easy to do. But, the next time you’re listening to someone, will you let them pull you into their story with their eyes?
My friend, life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day. I’m Mark Brunner.
Dogs are funny creatures. You can be working with them, getting their full attention, and then, suddenly, as if a switch got turned off somewhere within their brains, they lose interest in anything you’re saying or trying to get them to do. You can tell when this happens because when a dog is responding to your commands he’s looking right at you. But when the animal starts looking through you or around you, that’s when everything falls apart. Commands are useless and even doggie treats don’t help. Without eye contact there is no communication.
People are like that sometimes as well. Our eyes often glaze over when the conversation wanders away from us. We loose interest when others aren’t talking about us. Our misery is our own conceit and our conceit breeds misery in others.
Here’s a thought from an article titled, “How To Be Miserable.” It says, “Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use “I” as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others; do these things and you will attain a high level of self-appreciation. Do these things and find out just how miserable life can be when the only one who cares about you, is you.” (Daily Walk)
Kindness is the law of Christ’s kingdom and lowliness of the mind and heart is the key to obtaining and giving that kind- ness. Christ came to humble us, to dispel all pride from among us. That means we need to be quick to observe our own faults and easily as quick to overlook those of our neighbor. There is only one way to do this; we need to put away our “self” and put the “self” of friend, neighbor, spouse or child first. It isn’t easy to do. But, the next time you’re listening to someone, let them pull you into their story with their eyes. Listening with YOUR eyes as well as your ears makes it pretty hard to think about yourself. Spread kindness with your lowliness and avoid the miserable life for yourself and others.
We pray. Heavenly Father, when others are telling us their story we often listen but fail to really hear what they have to say because we begin to think of ourselves as we hear their words. Forgive us Father when we don’t listen with both our ears and our eyes; when we lose the direction of their thought and begin to walk down the path of our own emotions and feelings. Help us Father to make listening an important part of how we love and care for others. Give us the power of understanding which leads to knowledge and kindness by Your Holy Spirit. Make us the listeners that You are in our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.
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<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.