The Book of Sirach and Marriage - 3

(Sirach 5: 11) “Be swift to hear, but slow to answer.”

As my wife often tells my children, “God gave you two ears and only one mouth for a reason.”  This statement usually follows one of the kid’s rants about ‘something said in the house’ to which they were quick to start spouting off their opinion before truly understanding the point of the topic stated. This happens all the time in homes all over the world. We are quick with come-backs, opinions, responses, and defenses often before we have gathered all the information. Then it often leads into arguments over attitudes and other non-related issues.

This tip is really succinct and doesn’t take a lot of words: Listen! Be quick to hear, but take much more time to truly understand. If you are not knowledgeable about the issue or problem at hand, listen more and gather info instead of spouting off ideas and beliefs about that which you know little about. As the saying goes, “It’s better to appear a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” And when you listen, pay close attention and don’t let phones and TV’s and other things steal away your focus. Ask questions, as a detective would, in order to gather as much information as possible. Then take time to process it in your head. Then consider adding something to the conversation.

I feel like we have lost our ability to slow down and think before reacting even more so in this day and age of Twitter and Instagram. We say the first things that come to our mind and then either regret putting it out there or we are left to defend something stupid we’ve said. We become more prone to reacting out of high emotions rather than weighing our options and the possible results of our actions. So, let’s start with changing that pattern first in our own homes with our beloved, then with our children and the rest of the world.

ACTION STEP: This week, be swift to hear, but slow to answer. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.