Black Lives Matter - Do you hear or do you listen?
George Floyd’s life was intentionally squeezed out of him by a police officer in Minneapolis. This tragic event is one of many leading to protests to initiate meaningful discussion to eliminate systemic racism in our society.
My wife and I witnessed the protests come down a main street in downtown Milwaukee a couple hundred feet from our home last week. I immediately found two paths to choose from:
HEAR the honking and chanting
LISTEN to the message
Do we HEAR or do we LISTEN?
Two very different actions.
To Hear:
Shallow. Cheap. Ego. Status quo. Transactional.
By hearing, we take in the noise around us and interpret through the lens of the world we know. To better hear, maybe we turn on MSNBC, FOX, or CNN to solidify what we hear. Then, we can get into the weeds of the issue to be “informed.”
To Listen:
Depth. Rich. Communal. Transformational. Eternal.
The act of listening is the act of seeking to understand. Listening comes from a place of service and humility. Once we embark on the journey of understanding we begin the walk toward love.
By listening we begin to gain newfound perspective. We seek a higher view of the world within the context of knowing the human condition is real and ever present. Listening accepts messy and complex. Listening allows us to step on the balcony to fully absorb.
Listen while drinking deeply from history, philosophy, faith, and self-improvement.
Listening is the first step to be better. To do good. To love.
I’m listening. Are you?