As Jesus came to Jericho with
his disciples and a crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the
road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out,
“Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Many told him to be quiet, but he
cried out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stood still, and
said, “Call him.”
They called the blind man,
saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He’s calling you!”
Bartimaeus, casting away his
cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus asked him, “What do
you want me to do for you?”
The blind man said to him,
“Great Master, I want to see again.”
Jesus said to him, “Go your
way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and
followed Jesus on the way.
Reflection
Everyone else saw the blind
man who wouldn’t be quiet as a nuisance; Jesus saw him as a child of God and a
man of faith. How do you react when people complain and protest? Are you more likely to listen to them or argue with them?
Prayer: Open my ears, Lord,
to the cries of those the world tries to silence.
Believe me, I don't always actualize this, but it was an absolute game changer for me when I learned these important, practical truths:
ReplyDelete1. A complaint is a statement about something we wish were otherwise.
2. Complaint and Longing are two sides of the same coin.
3. Usually, complaints happen when expressed longings have gone unheard and unheeded. It's "safer" to complain, than to put the longing out there, and have it rejected.
4. Complaints are good for marriages, businesses and institutions, because, when they are heard. they can be catalysts for change!
5. If you want to hear someone's heart, reframe their complaint into an expressed longing. "Have mercy on me!!" becomes, "You are my last hope. Do YOU see how desperate I am to BE SEEN...and to SEE?!?"
Whenever I hear a complaint, I listen for the longing. It's always there. Always.
And, when I pause long enough to hear it, I feel more compassion than irritation...because I see the NEED.
Complaint & Longing: A game changer in listening!!
Excellent insights. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt depends on how many times a person voices the same complaint and what they are complaining about. It's one thing to take personal responsibility for something that is troubling a person and seek a solution. It is another to simply complain repeatedly without taking personal responsibility for one's dis-ease and seeking a solution.
ReplyDeleteOften really listening is the only way to get them to be quiet... I listen, but for pragmatic reasons, to get them to stop complaining. If someone is a chronic complainer, I tend not to spend a lot of time with them.
ReplyDeleteI think the most difficult or challenging complaints for me to hear are those which are the result of systemic injustice...and when I don't know where to start to change the system. I guess the only place to start is to be an advocate for the one person in front of me at the moment, but the levels of systemic injustice all around us often feels overwhelming to me.
ReplyDelete