Quotes on my Desk #2

February 16 2012, 10:21 am | Blake Hudspeth

Whenever I come across a verse, quote or idea that really strikes me, it makes its way on my desk.  If you were to come in my office, you would find many of these quotes.

The last one I posted was from Andy Stanley’s “Five Commitments” (READ IT HERE).  I wanted to share another with you today.
This one trumps Andy…it’s straight from Scripture!  Read it, then re-read it, then re-re-read it.

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, only in expressing his opinion.” Proverbs 18:2

My degree from UCA is in Communication.  One of the classes I had to take in that department was called “Advanced Oral Communication”, and there was an entire section where all we talked about was listening.  I thought it odd that, in an upper level public speaking class, we would spend so much time talking about listening…

Until I realized that we NEVER listen.

Literally.  We, as Americans, hardly ever truly listen.  In fact, studies show that we only listen to 25% of what someone tells us.  We miss 75%!!! They went on to explain the reason why…

Picture that you live on an island.  On that island you have five rocks that represent the five things that interest you.  (For example, my rocks would be things like theology, family, movies, etc.)  You have opinions about those rocks.  You have dreams and ideas of how those rocks should look.  Those rocks are important…to you.

Here’s where listening comes in to play.  We will only listen to others (or at least 25% of what they say), if they’re talking about one of our rocks.  We are quick to interject our impressive thoughts about those rocks.  But the moment someone starts talking about something other than one of our rocks (i.e. ballet recitals) or disagrees with how our rocks should look (i.e. parenting)…we check out.

Why?

Because UNDERSTANDING is a lot more difficult and humbling and others-focused than we’d like it to be.  Understanding requires patience. Empathy. Time. Focus. Grace. Listening.

I’d rather just stop them mid-sentence and tell them how I feel about the issue.  But that’s foolish…and it’s why I have this verse on my desk.

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding; but only in expressing his opinion.” Proverbs 18:2

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