LISTENING

     When I listen in my heart I hear the voices of the world. An unbelievable summer symphony of nature, of newborn children, of adoring grandparents, and responsible new parents. I hear weird and angry political groups, and the hum of hospital staffs ministering to illnesses. I hear the screams of brutally oppressed people in Africa, and the happy shouts of school children splashing in swimming pools and running across playgrounds. I hear the worries, and the fond recollections of aging folks. And I hear the intense and ambitious conversations of business people, the excited ideas of entrepreneurs, the proud discoveries of internet innovators. That's when I listen in my heart.

     But sometimes I'm only listening to my own ego, planning, scheming, plotting how to win, how not to lose, how to feel good and how not to suffer, thoughts about how to be right and not be wrong. The ongoing battle inside this mind.

     When you listen today, when you listen in your heart now, what do you hear?