Listening

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I am so fortunate.  I was recently listening to James Jordan while I work for profit, he was discussing the fact that the Bible was written to be heard and not read.  This based on the simple fact that literacy and mass publishing were not a thing until Gutenberg invented his press and even at that it took a wile to catch on.  He pointed out that reading is an event that is more inherently individualistic and private, where as listening requires a speaker and is communal even if only a tête-à-tête.  Listening requires surrender, and participation with someone else.  We can’t close our ears as we close our eyes, we must leave the area, or turn up our ear buds.  We get the idea of the contentions wife from Proverbs.  Her husband is happier on the roof, than in the house with her.  She is contending but she isn’t arm wrestling her husband, or challenging him to a game of chess, she is talking.  Her words, her speech are contending.  I was not able to find any verses about men being contentious in this way, because men generally fight with fists.  Interesting that male fighting, i.e. physical violence is all but anathema as a solution for anything in our world, yet female violence as speech is pretty standard, a right even.  But his point is that speech enters in, it affects us and we have less power than we think to resist.  I think of a study a friend of mine was doing.  He found that texting is actually less distracting to drivers than talking/listening on the phone.  While texting, reading/writing, you are participating, on your terms, when you have a free second between red lights.  But when you are talking on the phone, you must surrender to the other person, they talk on their terms which is less predictable, or controllable by you. They grab your attention when you need it most.

Of course not every woman is a shrew and no one ever thought that, despite what your women’s studies class taught you. But some are. And today more than ever. I think it’s fair to say that feminism is little more than codified shrewism. We no longer guard against it, so we have a lot more, plus some actively adocating for the shrew cause. Click the picure for some intersting history, keeping that in mind.

Of course not every woman is a shrew and no one ever thought that, despite what your women’s studies class taught you. But some are. And today more than ever. I think it’s fair to say that feminism is little more than codified shrewism. We no longer guard against it, so we have a lot more, plus some actively advocating for the shrew cause. Click the picture for some interesting history, keeping that in mind.

I am fortunate, because I don’t have a contentious wife, a boss, a supervisor, or anyone else really, in my ear ever.  But I do listen.  I listen to the greatest writers, historians and thinkers who ever were and currently are.  Here are some resources for when you have some fortunate moments too.  And don’t be afraid to create a life which makes more time for better listening.

  • Librivox: Contains all the classics and some not so classic works, which are out of copyright, read by volunteers, for free.  It’s open source audio books.  https://librivox.org

Starter Politics:

https://librivox.org/reflections-on-the-revolution-in-france-by-edmund-burke/

https://librivox.org/bradfords-history-of-the-plymouth-settlement-by-william-bradford/

https://librivox.org/up-from-slavery-by-booker-t-washington/

Fun:

https://librivox.org/right-ho-jeeves-by-p-g-wodehouse/

https://librivox.org/roughing-it/

Everything:

https://librivox.org/orthodoxy-by-g-k-chesterton/

https://librivox.org/the-everlasting-man-by-g-k-chesterton/

Novels:

https://librivox.org/the-brothers-karamazov-by-fyodor-dostoyevsky/

https://librivox.org/the-count-of-monte-cristo-version-3-by-alexandre-dumas/

https://librivox.org/tale-of-two-cities-by-charles-dickens-3/

History:

https://librivox.org/eusebius-history-of-the-christian-church-tr-by-mcgiffert/

Economics:

https://librivox.org/essays-on-political-economy-by-frederic-bastiat/

 

  • Rush Limbaugh:  The great man passed away recently, but his wisdom is still being dispensed on radios every day.  Available streaming for free on iHeart Radio.  Besides evil men are booring and they just keep repeating the same lies, so reruns of Rush aren’t all that out of date.  https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-rush-limbaugh-show-57927691/
  • Mark Steyn is always doing Western Civilization instead of just commenting on it.  He has regular variety shows for free. https://www.steynonline.com
  • Eric Metaxas:  Very funny and intelligent, interviews with some great Christian personalities, and thinkers from today.  https://metaxastalk.com  He also had an event based organization called Socrates in the City, also excellent. https://socratesinthecity.com
  • The Theology Pugcast:  Some wise Christian philosophy, history and theology professors discussing random topics.  Orthodox and politcally incorrect. https://thetheologypugcast.com
  • Cross Politic:  Younger Reformed Christians discussing the topics of the day.  Filtering the news through youthful sanity, is refreshing.   https://crosspolitic.com

 

 

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