Are You Listening?

The sound of music surrounds this season. Six words of winter’s announcement caught my attention. “Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening?” Autumn’s leaves still carpet the ground around me. The only sleigh bells ringing here are in children’s Christmas programs. However, the question, “Are you listening?” pinches my ribs.

Dr. Seuss reminds us, “Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” Reflections of family gatherings through the years reveal the spirit of sharing that still speaks to my heart. I have warm memories of how people made me feel. How did they make those memories? When they took time to share my joy, they looked up from what they were doing to see what I wanted to show them. They helped me understand how to put something together or showed me how to use something they had given me. What I received consumed me, but the adults knew the real world was far more than stuff. They had talked about that when the Christmas story was read, but the kids seemed to lose the meaning of Jesus’ birth in the wrapping under the Christmas tree.

Little did I realize they would share the most valuable gifts when all the commotion died down. When the excitement settled, the gift of listening, and trying to understand a life beyond anything I knew introduced wonder to my imagination. All these years later, I’d like to listen to those tales again so I could better grasp the point of view of the speaker, sense the feelings, and share the joy of the retelling. 

Opportunities for Listening

Maybe this is the year for a phone timeout. Encourage everyone to put their phone in a basket for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day gatherings. Then, put the basket in a closet. Refuse to talk politics. Speak well to and of one another and bite your tongue when you are tempted to correct the tales you hear.

Every family has its customs, and as time passes, the customs change. Let me challenge you to find time to look into the eyes of those around you and listen to them. You may just make a beautiful memory with your eyes and your ears.