Listen with your eyes. Look at the person when he’s talking. If you keep pressing those cellphone buttons under the table while pretending to be listening, it only means that you DON’T care enough to give the person your undivided attention. In Mark 10: 21, Jesus looked at the rich young ruler in the eyes and loved him.
That looking in the eyes and loving a person are embedded together in one sentence strikes me as odd. In my years of doing discipleship, I have never really understood the connection between the two until few years ago when I talked to a church leader to seek godly counsel. The guy didn’t look at me straight in the eye. He was busy texting and saying “Hi” to everyone who passed by us. In the middle of our uncomfortable conversation, I had the unmistakable feeling that he didn’t care enough to listen closely.
One thing hit me: Jesus was right. Looking in the eye and loving a person are two very related facts of life.
Sadly, many people just don’t get it. Whenever they meet with people they profess to be important, their cellphone habits give them away within minutes of the conversation. If only we could muster all the strength we have to keep our hands off our cellphones, who knows how many people would feel loved and cared for?
Just a thought.
Jojo Agot 