“Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand.”

Over the weekend, Patti and I attended the Napa Valley Film Festival.  The last movie of the weekend for us was a documentary titled, “Big Sonia”.  It was the story of an 86 year old Holocaust survivor and how she and her family are telling her story.  In one of the scenes she meets with a group of prisoners who have been in jail for 30 years and more.  She meets with them to leave her version of hope, forgiveness and survival.  There is a poignant moment when one of the prisoners speaks about what he learned from listening to Sonia and he says to the camera, “It sometimes takes someone who has been through something to reach those who are going through something.”  I was struck by his simple but powerful lesson of empathy that can come in the form of storytelling and listening.  I also was inspired to consider that if we are someone who has been through something, we have a story to tell that could be helpful to those who need us.  The idea of mentoring, or coaching, or advising, or just being there when called upon is a critical element to creating success for others in our businesses and organizations.  But, just as powerful is the message of listening to understand and the influence that can have on others.

Jesus encouraged us all to listen to His parables and to try our best to understand.  He was not only telling us to do this to grow our faith, but also He was telling us stories for us to learn to be empathetic and to care about what others are going through and in this, we learn about ourselves.  I am struck by the number of people we meet who never listen to others, and come across as knowing it all.  This is not the example of Christ.  Jesus listened.  Jesus asked us questions within the parables so that we could find our own way to Him.  Let’s consider, especially in these times of strong-willed points of view which, we are bombarded with daily, that we could best bring glory to Him by taking another approach and listening to understand.

Reference:  Matthew 15:10 (New Living Translation)