Here's something for you to "listen" intently with your heart, mind and soul.
LISTEN FOR LOVE
There are times when we are timid and shy about expressing the love we
feel. For fear of embarrassing the other person, or ourselves, we hesitate
to say the actual words "I love you." So we try to communicate the idea in
other words. We say "take care" or "don't drive too fast" or "be good." But
really, these are just other ways of saying "I love you." "You are
important to me. I care what happens to you. I don't want you to get hurt."
We are sometimes very strange people. The only thing we want to say,
and the one thing that we should say, is the one thing we don't say. And
yet because the feeling is so real, and the need to say it is so strong, we
are driven to use other words and signs to say what we really mean. And
many times the meaning never gets communicated at all and the other person
is left feeling unloved and unwanted. Therefore, we have to LISTEN FOR LOVE
in the words that people are saying to us. Sometimes the explicit words are
necessary, but more often, the manner of saying things is even more
important. A joyous insult carries more affection and love within the
sentiments, which are expressed insincerely. An impulsive hug says I LOVE
YOU even though the words might be saying very different.
Any expression of a person's concern for another says I love you.
Sometimes the expression is clumsy, sometimes even cruel. Sometimes we must
look and listen very intently for the love that contains. But it is often
there, beneath the surface. A mother may nag her son constantly about his
grades or cleaning his room. The son may hear only the nagging, but if he
listens carefully, he will hear the love underneath the nagging. His mother
wants him to do well, to be successful. Her concern and love for her son
unfortunately emerge in her nagging. But it is love all the same.
A daughter comes home late, way past her curfew, and her father
confronts her with angry words. The daughter may hear only the anger, but
if she listens carefully, she will hear the love under the anger. "I was
worried about you," the father is saying. Because I care about you and I
love you. You are important to me.
We say I love you in many ways- with birthday gifts, and little notes,
with smiles and sometimes with tears. Sometimes we show our love by just
keeping quiet and not saying a word, at other times by speaking out, even
brusquely. We show our love sometimes by impulsiveness. Many times we have
to show our love by forgiving someone who has not listened to the love we
have tried to express. The problem is listening for love is that we don't
always understand the language of love, which the other person is using. A
girl may use tears or emotions to say what she wants to say, and her
boyfriend may not understand her because he expects her to be talking his
language.
Thus, we have to force ourselves to really listen for love. The
problem with our world is that people rarely listen to each other. They
hear the words, but they don't listen to the actions that accompany the
words or the expression on the face. Or people listen only for rejection or
misunderstanding. They do not see the love that is there just beneath the
surface, even if the words are angry.
Simon and Garfunkel wrote that very haunting song, The Sound of
Silence. It goes: "... ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking
without speaking; people hearing without listening; people writing songs
that voices never shared, because no one dared disturb the sound of
silence." It is a terrifying picture of our modern world, a world without
communication and without love. We have to listen for love in those around
us. If we listen intently we will discover that we are a lot more loved
than we realize. Listen for love and we will find that the world is a very
loving place, after all.
-Fr. Joseph A.
*********************
Ain't that very inspiring, folks? So we come to realize now how it is to be
loved "in a myriad ways." Just LISTEN FOR LOVE. Have a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
Alex Quirante
"There is always a better way of doing things, there is nothing best!" -> A
motto for progress.