“Are You Listening?”

56th World Communications Day
(Dt. 6:4/Rm. 10:17)

Last Sunday was a very meaningful day for me, because I experienced meeting a group which was mostly children from ages 5-12. The first thing that I noticed was a 5 year old boy, shouting to the crowd to change the show on television. The elder persons, shouted at him too, to keep silent. Because of the exchange of shouting between the child and adults, there was a lot of noise that happened, and listening is nowhere in the group, but the little boy won, when he started to cry loudly. The elders did not do anything more except to give in to the child’s wish. The boy did not listen to the advice of the elders and the elders did not listen to the needs of the child. There was no dialogue and listening.

Yes, it seems that listening is already lost in communities, families or even societies today.

We are celebrating the 56th World Day of Communications today, with the theme “Listening with the Ear of the Heart”. Dt. 6:4/Rm. 10:17)”. A very fitting theme for our world today. Two special themes are quite relevant today, that of fraternity and the other integral ecology, while the method of engaging remains the same: dialogue and listening to strengthen relationships. What is real dialogue? Real dialogue requires going beyond ourselves. This means going beyond having simple contact or an exchange of messages.

True communication is a deeper exercise that calls for breaking out of one’s own way of seeing things or bias, looking at the broader horizon, “indispensable at this time of a changing time.” Communicators, in order to be effective should make an “outward journey”, which for Pope Francis, may require changing attitudes and ways of thinking.

Listening according to the dictionary is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process. It is the key to effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. Empathetic or therapeutic listening is the holistic way of listening which uses the ear of the heart.