"To listen to another's soul into a condition of disclosure and discovery may be almost the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another." -Douglous Steere

Nature reflects the wisdom of a listening heart. 

As a child I loved to wake up early and sit on the front stoop of our house and be present with my thoughts. I took in the quiet before the neighborhood had a chance to wake up.

I grew up in the suburbs of New York with all its concrete and tar pocketed streets. Yet being outdoors I loved the feel of cool morning dew on green grass and how the first rays of sunlight kissed a chill from my cheeks and the ebb and flow of God’s breath coaxing the flowers to dance.

In quiet, you notice a great deal more but you have to slow down and allow your senses to awaken to what is right there before you.

I’ve heard it said that listening is an art. Perhaps this is because researchers have observed that the average person’s attention span is only 22 seconds. We only remember about 50 percent of what someone says and within a few hours only 10-20 percent. 

The art of listening requires that we are intentional about developing this skill. When we listen with every cell of our body, it becomes a way of being that allows space for the sacred to enter into our encounters with one another.

“It is the art of becoming a listening presence, a way of being in which stillness and attentiveness provide space for people to speak authentically and know they are being heard. It is from this place that we can listen across diverse backgrounds, cultures, religions and belief systems. It is about being a presence for understanding rather than judging." ~Kay Lindahl, CLP

During my teenage years in Vermont I discovered an unsurpassed quality of life amid the peace and beauty of a natural landscape. Yet, our inner landscape offers an expansive quality of connection between ourselves and others when we listen with a wholeness of being. To offer this kind of listening is a priceless gift, one that cultivates a heart of gratitude.

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” -Meister Eckhart

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Watercolor by ~liz