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Did you hear the story of the 89-year-old woman who had hearing problems? Her doctor
said, "We have a procedure that can correct your hearing. When would you like me to make an
appointment for you?"
"Forget it, I’m 89 and I have already heard enough", she replied.
You may smile at what this dear lady said, but most of us need our hearing corrected. “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” The biggest problem in marriage today is communication. Once couples cease to communicate, a rift sets in. There’s more to communication than talking - we have to listen! “Listen, I will only say this once.” A funny thing happens when we don’t listen to people - they look for someone who will! May I suggest three helpful hints for you to develop listening skills.
- Don’t overvalue talking. If you ask six people how to improve your communication skills,
most would say, "Become a better talker." (BT would, but there again they are making a profit
out of it). Wrong! Paul Tillich says, "The first duty of love is to listen."
- Learn to focus! This is very hard for high energy, give-me-the-bottom-line-types. I understand
we can speak 180 words a minute, but we hear up to 500 words a minute. So we tend to
day-dream in the communication gap and miss some very important stuff. Learn to focus on
the person you are with and listen as you want to be listened to.
- Don’t be so preoccupied with yourself. When we are not listening we are being selfish. We are
not honouring the person who is speaking to us if we are not listening.
- There is more to listening than the ears, there is the heart. Real listening picks up what the
person is not saying.
/OL>
Why not try to put these principles into practise. It could improve your relationship with other
people.
Tom Elsby
Services
Morning Worship & Sunday School 10.45am. We observe the celebration of The Lord’s
Supper on the 2nd Sunday in the month.
Family Service is generally held on the last Sunday of each month.
Evening Service at 6.30pm on the last Sunday of each month
(Crèche facilities are available at each Morning Service)
Regular Church Activities
Women in Partnership - Meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 3pm.
Thursday - Each Week at 7.45pm - Mid week meeting for Prayer/Bible Study.
Coffee Morning - Held on the Second Saturday of each month at 10.30am
All are welcome to the above services and church activities.
Contacts
Minister Revd Tom Elsby - Tel:651519 (office) 650703 (home)
Secretary Eddie Seely - Tel: 650662
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