Hear and see with your heart.

Listening, listening to others, listening to yourself, your emotions, your body is extremely important in the nourishment of your spiritual life. When you listen, you are attuned to others, not with the objective of what they can provide for you, but with the objective of how you can provide something meaningful for them.

Those opportunities are not presented in a direct, confrontational relationship. What you learn by listening comes at you from the side. If your view is not broad enough, you miss it completely. If your attention is too narrow, you do not see what approaches. Being able to listen requires that you see and are aware of your surroundings. This heightened awareness connects you to the needs of others. It connects you to the opportunities for exercising compassion.

Seldom does one who is in need of compassion express that need. The only possibility for its recognition is your own sensitivity. You should always expand your vision by strengthening what you hear. You hear not with your ears; you hear with the heart. What you should listen to is not the call of an individual; you should listen to your own heart’s response to another. It is a response drawing from a commitment to love. Your soul rises up on wings in joy when you hear and see with your heart!