Listen Slowly

I would hate to have a hard count of how many times we interrupt people in conversation and how many times we jump ahead with our thoughts
expressing the wrong conclusion to someone else’s words.
We miss so much in life because we will not listen. A well known Christian writer once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it. He says: “I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through
the day,”. “Before long, things around our home started reflecting the patter of my hurry-up style. It was become unbearable.
“I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our
younger daughter. She wanted to tell me something important that had
happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, ‘Daddy, I wanna
tell you somethin’ and I’ll tell you really fast.’
“Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, ‘Honey, you can tell
me — and you don’t have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly.”
“I’ll never forget her answer: ‘Then listen slowly.'”
Adapted from: Bits & Pieces,
June 24, 1993, Page 13-14