As I prayed and reflected on the Gospel reading today from John, my thoughts immediately went to the idea of how we can be hearing somebody speak to us but not really be actively listening or trying to understand what they are trying to communicate. Jesus is trying to communicate to his audience the message of salvation and everlasting life comes from keeping the word of God. Their response was “Abraham and the prophets died, but kept God’s word, and you are saying you are God?” Instead of listening to what Jesus was saying, they immediately looked for ways to counter his message and show his statements were illogical. How many times have I had this type of response to God and to the people around me that are trying to communicate with me? I think this is one of the main messages that can be gained from this Scripture passage today…are we listening or are we just hearing? Hearing is passive, the sounds will come into our ears and trigger our neuronal hair cells and send messages to our brain. Listening requires the brain’s attention to deciphering what those sounds mean and what the other is trying to really communicate. It requires us to stop making predictions about what we think the other person is going to say and actually listen to what they are trying to convey. I think oftentimes we get caught up in hearing the words another shares rather than actively trying to understand the true message that person is trying to convey to us. This has absolutely been a challenge for me both personally and professionally throughout my life and this scripture is a great reminder to us all of how important it is to actively listen to the message being communicated and the meaning behind it.
Author: Todd Gruninger, Science Department
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