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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Is anyone listening?

Yesterday I sat and listened as a speaker presented relevant and applicable information to a roomful of people. Of the ten people at my table, seven had their personal electronic devices out, and six very actively using them. One person was even using two! Maybe some are effective "multi-taskers," but I suspect most just weren't paying much attention to the speaker. It made me wonder how much folks in church are paying attention to those who are teaching.

Texting, typing and talking while someone is speaking is just plain rude. The popularity of multiple electronic devices have made our rudeness common-place and open. Before all the personal devices folks could still ignore a speaker. They just did it more politely. If you were in church, you could read the church covenant or daydream about what's for dinner. Much of this was done with a semblance of attention -- and perhaps a dumb smile. Rude or restless, there have always been, and always will be people who don't listen. It seems to have now become an engrained way of life. Are we really that busy? It is still true that sometimes we need to be slow to speak (or text or type) and swift to listen.

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