Article February 18, 1980 Issue

Spiritual listening—vital to education

BEATRICE S. PETERSON

Have you ever wished you could remember the entire contents of a lecture without relying on notes? Or give a talk and keep good eye contact with your audience—instead of glancing down all the time at your outline? Notes are a useful tool, but the fear of forgetting can make us slaves to them. It can prevent the careful listening that brings a higher level of effectiveness. The more we listen to our professors and each other, the better we can learn and make accurate responses.

But there is a higher order of listening that awakens our native capacity for insight. That is the kind of listening Christ Jesus did. He told Jews, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John 5:30; At another time he said, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all-taught of God." 6:45; This ability to listen to the voice of God enabled Jesus to teach in the synagogue. We read in John, "And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" 7:15;

How much more we we can learn and understand during our formal education if we too realize we are "all taught of God."

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