Earlier this week I was at a funeral and heard a humorous recollection. The gal telling the story was visiting her grandmother with her father and in the course of the conversation, both father and daughter heard grandmother make the comment, “I was dancing in the nude.” It was only after clarification by the son that they determined that is not what she said!
Far too often what we say and what is heard are two different things. Lately I’ve been dwelling on the saying: “Communication isn’t about what you say, it’s about what they hear.” Anyone who has done any public speaking knows this to be true. The filters that people listen through have an amazing affect on what they hear. Anyone who has raised children knows this to be true! God knows this to be true also. I listen through filters also. God speaks, I often hear what I want to hear instead of what God is trying to say.
This is so true. Something I try to get across to my kids and my students, in fact. It works for all kinds of communication, too–spoken, written, non verbal. One way I’ve heard communication described is getting the thought that’s happening in your head to happen in the other person’s head. The communication isn’t over after the words leave your lips.
Of course, what my kids and my students hear after I’ve said it is probably something completely different…!