Letters To Tom — Listening

Dear Tom,

Well, it seems I’m no longer a “zombie.” Suzy and my friends say that I used to just “zone out”—sit in a room with friends and family, but never participate. When Suzy asked what
was wrong, I was irritated—I used to say, “I’m just listening.” In truth, I was in denial, participating in the world only as an observer, my brain muted. I have since learned that this inability to focus and participate is a tell-tale sign of serious liver disease.The words made their way to me, but I couldn’t process or respond.

Thank God, most of us don’t need a vital organ transplant, but we all need to actively concentrate on the art of listening. This means more than simply hearing another’s words it means really listening to their meaning, and sometimes life asks us to receive something beyond the words we are hearing –an energy, atmosphere, light, or texture behind the words. Or at times we need open our hearing to our own words or more importantly to our inner voice disregarding the voices of others who suggest that our voice must sound or appear a certain way.

I believe God gave us all a unique voice. God waits patiently for us to find that voice and then use it to his glory and purpose.

Your friend,

Webb

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About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.