Chaplain's Message

To listen requires humility, the basic theory to listening is that others may quite possibly have something of value to say, something from which we can profit….But the talent for listening goes beyond listening with our ears. Really, good listeners also listen with the mind (and are, therefore, open and non-judgemental), with the heart  (they are sensitive to their own and other people’s emotional needs) the eyes (they know what to notice and what to overlook), and the touch (they sense when to reach out and to quietly withdraw). 

~Melanie Svoboda

There is something very powerful about being truly heard; it is healing, it is empowering, it is energising, it is a gift. It is the pre-cursor to being “known” which surely is the ultimate connection with another human. WE are the hands, feet, mouth piece and ears of Almighty God – may we invite Him into all our interactions, may we be present in the moment and offer the gift of sacred listening on His behalf. What an exciting thought!

I'd like to finish with some lovely thoughts from Karl Menninger on listening. 

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward, and we want to sit in their radius. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold, and expand.

~ Karl Menninger

~Sarah Pollitt

   College Chaplain