The Beginning of Love: Listening

One of the greatest treasures of life is the person who understands you. I opened a phone conversation the other day with the confidence-building words, "Please let me be neurotic for a minute." My friend was completely open to that, listened for the requisite time needed, then brought me back to the normal planet we usually inhabit. Some day, I will do the same for my friend. I know this. We have been through it before. My turn, your turn. It's like the old house rule: "Only one person gets to be crazy at a time." Another way to put it: you'll get your turn. I'll get mine. It will be all right. Bonhoeffer wrote, "The beginning of love for the (brothers and sisters) is learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him.”