What is missing for so many people, in my view, is a listening.
Please don’t misunderstand me. A lot of people say they listen but in actual fact they don’t. They give advice, counsel, fix people. They think they listen. They think they have a good ear, but many people have never really stumbled onto what real listening is. So I’m not saying that what is needed is the kind of listening that is really 80% advising and 20% listening, but 100% listening.
I listened to someone the other day and found that, when he had had a really long run at it and said all that was there for him to say, he expanded, kinda blossomed and sounded much more grounded and happy. It was like he was freeze-dried and had just absorbed a bucketful of water and reconstituted himself.
I’m very much pinned down by World Freedom Day so it isn’t easy for me to respond to the need.
But if I had time, what I would do is get everyone in this situation to take out a Skype account and then organize things so that there are Skype-mediated listeners always on hand – real listeners – to accept your call and hear how it is for you. If someone wants to take this in hand and organize it, I think it would be a great blessing.
The people who are aware of what is happening and have committed to it are scattered all over the globe and so it may not be possible to meet. Long-distance calling via Skype may be the way to go until everyone in society knows what is happening. Of course then the problem will probably no longer exist.
Skype only costs a pittance per month and allows endless hours of long-distance calling. It has its vagaries and requires a decent headset. But it remains a really wonderful way of making distance disappear and uniting numbers of people. The opportunities it offers are largely unrealized as yet.
So if someone is looking for their field of service, listening to people like us who are shut out of the world because we know what’s coming down the pike and few other people do and, among those who do, few accept what they hear – that would be a really valuable service.
Again, you can use the Forum to discuss it and plan out an approach.