Listening is a gift.

These Messages have often emphasized that you can be a loving presence in the life of another simply by being there and listening. You do not have to always give advice. Your thoughts and preferences do not always have to dominate and prevail. A quiet and receptive listening is often the most profound gift you can give to another. It is a gift that frees another to be open and honest in expression, and it is a gift to yourself, for you understand in the most significant way possible where another person is on his or her own pathway. Relationships between communities, between nations, or between individuals are merely different expressions of the same basic truths. If you listen with an open heart, another can express with an open heart. If you listen judgmentally, another feels that restriction, and the free expression that is needed is not possible.