Blocking Others Kills the Heart

You are not listening.

• You are talking.
• You are sharing.
• You are shouting.

But you are not listening.

Or most of us anyway.

I’m trying. I really am. I want to hear – new ideas, new experiences, new revelations.

But the more you SHOUT at me, the harder it is to hear you.

I want to engage. But you turn off the one line of communication.

I attempt to reach out. But you are turned away and shouting at someone new.

Maybe THEY will listen.

When I was in middle school, my uncle was a superhero.

No … really. I rode the school bus to my grandmother’s one afternoon and knew there was a problem when everyone rushed to the windows to look at something.

I didn’t have to look. I knew my uncle. So I got off the bus, walked in the opposite direction to my aunt’s house, and only then turned to see my uncle standing on my grandmother’s roof in a Superman costume.

He was definitely unique. And I will admit I get at least a dash of my daring from him.

And over the years, he talked with me about everything from college politics to world religions – and more than a few topics in between.

I think he expected me to take his ideas at face value. After all, he was a superhero. But he should have known I was too stubborn and obstinate to accept his words without doing some recon and research of my own.

He should have known because it’s written in my baby book. That particular streak has been with me for a long time.

The older I got, the less I accepted what others told me. I wanted to learn. I needed the details. “Show … don’t tell.”

That’s how I headed into social media. I wanted to engage, and talk, and share.

I didn’t have to agree with you. You didn’t have to agree with me. I just want the chance to hear, to share, to talk.

For the longest time, that was possible

Somewhere between quarantine and Epiphany, it all went off the rails.

I was afraid to share.

I was afraid to open up.

I was afraid to try and connect.

Today, someone suggested that I had allowed myself to be MUTED.

YES! That.

Three months ago, I started praying for more boldness in my journey.

Lord, thank You that You are opening a door for my words today so that I am positioned to speak Jesus without concern for my circumstances.

So I dipped my toes in with direct messages to others, and we had conversations.

I reached out through phone calls and when I saw people in-person, and we had conversations.

I got bolder.

I shared on social media in a discussion – on topic and directly from Scripture.

And she blocked me.

No comment.

No conversation.

No communication of any kind.

And as long as we refuse to learn and grow, we will die.

It’s time to stop blocking and dying. Instead, start listening and growing.

That’s the way we flip the world upside right.

Are you listening or dying?