On Learning to Listen

I love spending time with my grandparents. I love letter writing to my grandma up in Oregon and drinking lattes with my Grandma in Orange County and watching my Grandpa laugh at Kelsey's jokes. They're really special people. They make me laugh and smile and have a way about about them that's different than anyone else I know. 

We spent Thanksgiving with my grandparents in Orange County this past week and I had a conversation with my grandpa that really struck me and continues to be on my heart and mind.

Grandpa and I were in the kitchen, or somewhere else in the house, and he looked at me and told me about his conversation with a colleague earlier that morning. He said:

"I realized as I was talking to her how differently she is thinking about this situation. Her perspective is different from mine. I wish, Alyssa, that we could have talked during the election because it's interesting to hear from people who think differently from me."

My grandfather is in his 80s. How many 80-somethings do you know who would say something like this to their granddaughter? My grandfather is very well-educated not only academically, but as a father, mentor, business leader and advisor. He's done a lot of cool things and met some awesome people and has great stories to prove it. And for some reason, he wanted to know what this young and inexperienced 22-year-old thought.

Wow.

I think the idea of elephant ears is usually attached to eavesdropping....but I'm changing it because I love elephants and I think their ears are cute and huge which is a perfect illustration. I'm inspired this week to have elephant ears like my grandpa does. Ears that are big and want to listen earnestly. Ears that want to be taught by those who think differently.

I think my age group and my grandpa's age group might have the hardest time listening. When you're in your 80s you've held many jobs and voted in countless elections and seen or fought in wars. You've watched a lot of babies grow up and you've been to a lot of funerals too. You've shared a lot of joy and endured great heartache. You've seen a lot and learned a lot and you're pretty content with that knowledge quota.

And us early 20-year-olds? We're a bit smart-assy. We just graduated college and studied abroad and took classes about world development and gender issues and political systems. We lived on our own and made good and bad choices and endured the consequences. We get it and we're ready to conquer the world - no more listening required.

My grandpa has seen a lot. But he's still eager to listen.
And I want to follow in that example of seeking to listen and learn from others who are different from me - others who are older than me or who voted very differently than I did. That's so much easier said than done...sometimes that listening involves patience through long ramblings, sometimes it involves ideas that I find completely crazy, and sometimes it involves a lot of courage, especially when those ideas sound a bit strange and scary.

I'm so thankful for my grandpa's big listening ears and I hope that I learn to hear in the same way.

hymns

Feeling a little stressed this evening as I hang out in jenks…so hey, why not take some time to blog? Seemed like a good solution to me J

We sang a hymn that really made me happy last week: "The Church’s One Foundation." I think I got excited about it because shalom was still on my mind and this hymn talks about the unity of Christ. Although that doesn’t seem like it relates to peace, I think it just magnified Jesus’ love and ability to be a God of all nations, no matter our differences (culture, ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc. etc.). It also made me think of my dear grandmother who absolutely LOVES hymns…and I could just picture her playing on the piano and singing away. As a matter of fact, my other grandmother loves hymns as well and I always like to see their excitement when they play them in Church (this is not a common occurence in my Church, and if we do sing them, it is usually with guitar and piano) I would not consider myself a usual hymn-lover, but I think if I try a little harder to pay attention to the words of these songs, I will appreciate them a lot more and see their truth and light…I’ll keep working on that one J

The Church’s One Foundation (#277)

The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation by water and the word:
From heav’n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life He died

Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy flood, and to one hope she presses,with every grace endured

‘Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation of peace forever more;
till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious shall be the Church at rest

Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in one,
and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee
A-men