Tired of Learning the Hard Way
September 22, 2010
Excerpt from Proverbs 21:10-16 (The Message)
"Simpletons only learn the hard way, but the wise learn by listening."
Reflection by Lillian Daniel
Most of us would prefer to learn by listening, but if we're honest, most of us learn by messing up. Every deep lesson I have learned in life has come at a cost. It's only after kicking myself for my stupidity that the message registers. That really is learning the hard way.
But after I have learned the hard way, then, and only then, I will recall the wise words of people who wanted to teach me that very same lesson with some good advice. I should have listened to them. But I wasn't open to it at the time.
Maybe you have to learn the hard way, by messing up, before you can learn the wise way, by listening.
Or perhaps we are all learning both ways at the same time. When we make a mistake, we don't have to collapse and wallow in our own stupidity. We don't have to blame others. We don't have to remain simpletons. Instead we can learn by listening.
After a failure, we can listen to our own lives. We can listen for the Holy Spirit in the middle of the mess, and end up wise. Perhaps, after learning the hard way, we can listen to our own lives and learn the right way.
And that might just make us more open to listening to other people.
Prayer
Still speaking God, could you adjust my lesson plan, so that I am spending more time listening and less time learning the hard way? Who should I be listening to? Are you speaking to me through my own life? You have my attention. I'm really listening. Amen.
