Too many people feel that no one cares. In our busy lives it is easy for us to just focus on our own needs and forget that there are hurting people all around us.
The truth is that many people are longing to find someone who will listen to them. David Augsburger said:
“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.”
I came across this poem that speaks to this issue as well.
Does anyone care?
The ache is there, does anyone really care?
The tears they fall, they fall to deaf ears,
Does anybody see our breaking heart
Or care to understand and do their part?
The ache is there, does anyone really care?
We beg and plead, and our souls we bare,
We tell them exactly what we need
But instead of helping they stand and watch us bleed.
The ache is there, does anyone really care?
If only they knew, If only they would dare
To reach out and listen or touch our hand.
Don’t they see we are in sinking sand?
The ache is there, does anyone really care?
Yet I finally found one so rare,
The one who would dare to stand
To be that listening ear and lend a hand.
Will the rest dare to understand
Or learn to reach out their hand?
The ache is there, does anyone really care?
Author Unknown
Who can you be a listening ear to today? Who can you lend a hand to today?
How have you been blessed by a listening ear and a lending hand?
Great points Kevin. Serving others can be as simple as just giving people an ear. It’s easy to miss those opportunities, but it can mean the world to someone.
It definitely can!
Thanks for sharing Matt!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Stuck is a state of mind, and it’s curable
Thanks so much for sharing the poem. In our fast pace world today, it really is hard to find someone who will listen. This fits right in with some training I’m taking from Michael Oliver. He’s teaching how to have conversations and dialogue with people. To actively listen, not be thinking about what you are going to say next. I’m amazed as I apply this new skill how wonderful people feel at the end and I’ve hardly said a word. Just ask a few questions and listened.
Listening is definitely a skill that takes time to master.
Thanks for sharing Debi!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Quit dying to the wrong things
The amazingly beautiful thing is that it only takes one. If someone reaches out or takes the time to listen and share, it makes a world of difference. Great post, Kevin. Thank you.
It definitely does.
Thanks for sharing Jason!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…The greatest pain in life is not to die but to be ignored
Great post Kevin,
I remember one time back in about the 7th or 8th grade, my friends (ha ha, right?) had started a nasty name for me and when I did something people didn’t like they started using it as well. It caused me to cry right as class was done and everyone left, ONE person stayed for a minute to pay my shoulder and see if I was alright, that was it. I’m not one to seek listeners, but it would have been nice if one had approached me and just asked.
I try to find the time to listen to people, see why they may not be having a good day. The small things count.
Brandon Wraith
Knowledge is POWER
Listening is so important and it makes such a huge difference. We definitely need more listeners in our world.
Thanks for sharing Brandon!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…The solution to busyness
Kevin,
Sometimes we come across posts that we need in our lives at the right times in our lives. This is one of those for me today. I come across so many people that I coach and listen to and for more than anything sometimes they just need an ear of someone kind and caring to listen to them.
This beautiful poem is a reminder that we all touch lives and we all can be the one person that can show someone who may have given up that there is someone who cares and another one.
Sometimes it is just knowing that God cares that helps so many hold on. The hug from someone else may mean all the difference.
Thank you for this reminder today.
VaNessa
VaNessa Duplessie recently posted…Schools Out For Summer!
When people see that there is hope (even if it is just a sliver of it) they often are able to find the strength to press on. We need to be instruments of hope as we listen to others.
Thanks for sharing VaNessa!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Milestones and markers
Great post. It’s those moments when you’re just sold out to making someone else’s burden lighter or their life brighter that you get that feeling – this is what being Jesus is all about.
David A Wilson recently posted…No Sale Evangelism – Jim Drake’s On the Right Track
Yes it is!
Thanks for sharing David!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Finding strength in difficult times
Last fall, I fell into an incredible depression like I’d never experienced in my life. I would lay in the bathtub for 4-5 hours at a time because I just couldn’t bring myself to get up. The darkest thoughts you can imagine entered my mind.
I had a pastor my wife talked to in an attempt to get me help say that he didn’t want to “feed the beast” and that they thought I was just looking for attention. (To which my wife responded I was…I was looking for someone who actually cared.)
If it wasn’t for the half dozen or so online friends I knew that called and tweeted and texted me every day, I don’t know what would have happened.
So to answer your question…no. A lot of people really don’t give a damn about others. They just say they do on their blogs or twitter or facebook. If you have a lot of twitter followers or money or fame then you’ll get a lot of people who “care.” When you’re really in need? Christians scatter.
Jason recently posted…Day 179: A powerful conversation
I hear what you are saying Jason. I think this is an important issue that the family of God needs to do a better job at. For me, this comes as I open myself up to others and then give the space for them to open up to me. All I can do(or anyone for that matter) is make the choice for myself to care when I someone hurting. I can’t make other people care about me or others.
Thanks for sharing Jason!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Quit blaming
Hey Kevin, another wonderfully inspirational article. This is a tough subject, but I do believe there are things we can do to make a difference even in small ways. Anyone who follows my blog knows how I feel about volunteering and making a difference in our communities -I help out at our local women’s shelter as well as the homeless shelter and food bank. Thanks for the inspirational message.
Marquita Herald recently posted…Time to Stop Thinking of Failure as the Enemy of Success