“Listen to me.”

What is about this appeal that gets me every time?

It must come from someone who has a voice. Someone who knows how to speak, to communicate. But even more, someone who has something to say.

“Listen to me.”

A verb in the imperative, a preposition, and the object form of the personal pronoun I. Three words. Not much. But so much.

Someone else’s desire for my attention.

The boss who – not often though – slips in a colloquial “Listen to me…”. Not one that sounds bossy, but that solely serves as an introduction to some interesting wisdom he wants to share from his life.

The lady at the other end of the line when I complain about an office that didn’t do its job right, but sent the same invoice twice within a week. “Listen to me, …” she starts. In an attempt to calm my modest anger. In an attempt to clarify the whole situation of misunderstandings evoked by unprofessionalism.

My mom. Years back. When she wanted to shake me, at least with words. Get through to me. Because she had the feeling that she had already lost me. “LISTEN to me.”

But why would it even be necessary to ask someone to listen? Don’t we hear all the time? We can close our eyes, but we cannot close our ears. They are (naturally) open, if we want to or not. So why asking me to listen? I hear anyway.

Yes, I hear anyway. But I only listen rarely. Listening is interesting. I am not only hearing, but additionally I am silent. I almost don’t open my mouth, but my ears are open. My faculties to receive a message are prepared. And I try not only to hear but to l-i-s-t-e-n. Wholly.

“Listen to me.”

When God says through Isaiah for example: “Listen to me in silence, oh coastlands…” (Isaiah 41:1) – what does he actually say before he says what he wants to say? What if he tries to say this: “Stop talking, and l-i-s-t-e-n. I have to tell you something. Something that is important for you.” He wants to share from His wisdom, His life. He wants to clarify things, avoid misunderstandings. He wants to shake his listeners with words, with truth. Offer salvation. To not lose them. To get them. Back maybe. As if he said: “I desire your attention. Listen to me.”

King George VI says in the movie The King’s Speech: “Listen to me… Because I have a voice.”

If this God is the one who spoke our amazing earth into existence, I bet he has a voice – oh, what a voice!

“Listen to me.”

There is something in this appeal that simply grasps me, deep deep down inside. And way way up as well. I guess I hear with my ears, but really listen with my heart AND brain.