Listening: Neither Affirmation nor Disagreement

art by henry lorelle

One of my coworkers and I got to talking on break about some weightier material (ie: the “good stuff” of conversation).

One item he discussed was the concept of Creationism, and how he was finding in his personal research more reason to believe the earth to be younger than evolution theory posits, etc.

And instead of me reacting with my own (albeit under formed) opinion about how God can work with the order of nature vs often poetical and allegorical language of Scripture etc,

I let him talk for the brief amount of time we had,

without interrupting.

Without inserting my own opinion.

art by vaclav brozik

And I discovered that as I was listening, I found that I was fighting off a fear:

 that by me not saying my opinion on the spot, that maybe he thinks I agree with him on this conclusion,

or that I believe he’s really onto something,

or that somehow I’m doing a disservice to God by remaining silent…

but really?

I was listening.

Listening isn’t an opinion.

art by charles sprague

In our current societal atmosphere,

where “reaction” videos are commonplace,

the comment section is quickly loaded (and sometimes without a commenter having even listened to the entire video, or read the entire article),

and silence has been termed “violent” (research the 2020 Black Lives Matter propaganda)…

it has made Listening

(and I will lump in “reading” as well, the “listening” of the eyes),

equivalent to

compliance, affirmation, even validation.

But…

if a society makes Listening and Reading into “automatic compliance, affirmation, or validation",”

then the society cuts itself off from Love and Charity foremost,

and also the potential for Revelation,

and thirdly, the Freedom to Think.

(For when ideas are seen as “dangerous” and therefore cut-off by opposing views,

soon comes the perceived danger of thinking at all).

art Cossack Went to War by Mykhailo Kryvenko, 1954

Listening is not an opinion.

Reading is not an opinion.

I can entertain ideas without affirming them.

And indeed, I must entertain ideas of which I do not agree,

or of which I do not understand,

or that I may find offensive;

in short “other views.”

My Freedom of Mind depends on it.

My Freedom of Will, thereafter.

saint margaret
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