The Listening Exercise

The Listening Exercise
"Listening has to do with those things that aren’t fully said, those things that we feel in a person more than what we hear. We can listen with the heart and listen for the voice that is speaking behind the voice that we actually hear."

Too often in the field of peacebuilding, listening is something people “do” – like techniques of good listening; but listening approximates something more like prayer/meditation. We can cultivate in ourselves an ability to listen in such a way that the person you are with comes to a deeper understanding of what the Divine is saying in their life. Listening has to do with those things that aren’t fully said, those things that we feel in a person more than what we hear. We can listen with the heart and listen for the voice that is speaking behind the voice that we actually hear…

From Mahé, Sally, Charles Gibbs, and Barbara Hartford. “Creative Beginnings: From the Moral Imagination Program.” United Religions Initiative, 2008.

Originally published by and shared with the permission of the United Religions Initiative (URI). For other publication use, contact URI for permission.

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