Susan Lafferty“Did you hear what she just said? Listen.”
It’s back in the ‘90s. I’m participating in a counseling workshop in Karachi. Led by a woman from the UK whose counseling ministry is all about listening.
She instructs us on the importance of fully taking in what someone is sharing with you. Don’t try to give answers. Don’t start telling your own story.
Just listen.
Rise early in the morning. Just in time to walk out in the dark and witness the first edge of dawn. Pushing light against silhouetted trees, houses. Flooding pale hues of color across the sky.
No matter what happened the day before, whatever is taking place in this season—somehow the break of day clears the dark.
The candle flickers.
Just enough light to see the words.
While they were there in Bethlehem to register, “the time came for her to give birth” (Luke 2:6).
The time came.
On a short-term trip. In the midst of a temporary stay. Far from family and the familiar.