BALENTINE MEMOIRS

“A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows to a fool.”   Proverbs 17:10 (ESV) Where have all the good listeners gone?  How do I become a better listener?  Listening is both a choice and a skill.  It seems that nobody is learning and nobody is choosing it these days.  This truly isn’t an emotional rant based on some recent interaction I had, it is more of an observation over several years that our culture seems to be producing generations of bad listeners. I’ve heard it said that in a typical group setting, no one person can talk for more than 15-20 seconds before being interrupted.  If you have something valuable or insightful to say, you better say it FAST!  Even if you are able to get your words of wisdom out in such a short time frame, how do you know that the receiver even processed or understood what you were saying? Active listening skills teach us that there is importance in acknowledging what the other pe...

Amy and I were talking the other night as we enjoyed one of the many meals that someone from our church family brought to us. {Side note: thank you to all who have fed us over the last several weeks.  It has been a huge blessing!}  The topic Amy and I discussed was “change.”  Of course, the two of us have been radically changed by Simon.  We know that others are seeing things in a new light and are thinking and acting differently as well.  But how can this change be sustained?  How do we live-out the rest of our days without slipping back into our old, uninspired ways? A few friends have told me that peoples’ attention spans for death typically last about three weeks.  That is to say, the supporters and comforters tend to move on and hop back into their old routines after a few weeks of giving focused attention to the grievers.  But for the griever there is no “moving on.” No closure.  There is only the turning of a page.  As we...