Take Time to Listen
Fans of the comic strip “Peanuts” might recall today being Beethoven’s birthday. The German composer born on this day in 1770 was heavily admired by the toy piano playing Schroeder. Beethoven is perhaps best known for his Fifth Symphony (a disco adaptation of that piece became a #1 song over 40 years ago). He wrote prodigiously despite increasing deafness. A few people suspect I have a hearing problem when I ask them to repeat something they said. Sometimes I heard them accurately the first time but want to make sure I did so. Other times it’s more of a listening problem on my part. I made the mistake of letting my mind wander while other people are speaking to me. Another bad habit we need to avoid is thinking more about how to respond to someone while they are still talking to us. Proverbs 18:2 says, “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.” It’s often been said that God gave us two ears and only one mouth because it’s more important to lis...