Listening and Hearing.

Last week in a group meeting, a woman asked me to explain what the church means when it says the Israelites were God's original chosen people. I gave the best thorough explanation I could. I spent about seven minutes giving an explanation and then we had questions about it. This morning at the meeting, she said she is frustrated because she wants to know why the Israelites were God's chosen people and could I dare to answer that some day!!!!

This morning we discussed the major divide in the celebrations of Easter between the Orthodox and Latin-rite Catholics. I explained that the Orthodox church uses the Julian calendar and the full moon as its way of focusing the date. The Christians use the much more precise Gregorian calendar that is used worldwide today. She insists the Latin-rite Catholics and the secular world ought to use the imprecise Julian calendar because it is a great show of unity to the Muslims!!! Then she asked if I could explain why the celebrations of Easter between the Orthodox and Latin-rite Catholics are very different. ARGHH!!!

This evening, I asked a blind man who was sitting in the dark if he wanted the lights turned on. I wondered if that was a foolish question. Then I realized, this man can probably listen well. He spoke very good English and he we followed a great form of conversational etiquette. I was very happy. I felt relieved and heard.