A few years ago now, a retired senior leader of The Salvation Army came to stay with us. At the end of the weekend, I worried I had been like the Spanish Inquisition having asked him so many questions! I had recognised he was a very wise person. He had something to teach me. But wise people are very humble (as we thought about yesterday), and so often you have to draw their wisdom from them slowly, like drawing water from a well.
How do you draw wisdom from someone? You ask them questions. But it’s not enough to simply ask them questions. You have to listen to their answers. I don’t learn much when my lips are moving! It’s when I learn to be quiet and listen that I learn the most.
If you want to be wise, then learn from the wise. In order to learn from the wise, be prepared to ask questions, keep quiet and listen to the answers.
THINK IT OVER
Think about the following:
•My wise mum taught me there’s a reason we have one mouth and two ears! If you spent a day speaking and listening in that proportion, what difference do you think it would make?
