Stop Look & Listen

Today I finally made it back to church. Yet another step in Taking Back My Life. My church does studies in a series. Ironically, they've been doing "relationships" this month. And yet I've missed most of this month.

Today it was about "giving the gift of Presence." In other words - really being there with a friend when you're talking to that friend. It was a powerful message. The speaker (not our pastor - sometimes the Pastor turns the mic over to someone else for a message....) went through the bible and called out passages that highlighted times when Jesus/God "sees us." We also watched a clip from the Joy Luck Club where the mother says to the daughter, "I see you."

The message was powerful - and we even practiced talking to someone, doing active listening, and saying, "I see you."

Truly seeing someone - being in their presence - turning off your own "inner song" and hearing what they are saying - how hard is that sometimes? But today, he made it seem so easy if we just follow the three simple steps.

STOP -just stop whatever you are doing. Stop focusing inward. Just. Stop.
LOOK - face another person. Look them in the eye. SEE THEM.
LISTEN - Practice active listening, "So what I hear you saying is this...." or "It seems like when that happened you felt...."

Give another human being the Gift Of Presence - the gift of truly being in the moment.

Such a simple idea, and yet so hard to do sometimes. This week, I am practicing Giving the Gift of Presence. Because everyone needs to know that God Loves Us - just the way we are. Always.