Winnie the Pooh famously said, “If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”
I’ve learned over the years that Winnie might be on to
something. When someone won’t listen to you even though following your counsel
would be to their advantage, it may be that their reticence is nothing more
than a small piece of fluff in their ear. Or there may be another hindrance:
Some folks find it hard to listen well because they’re broken and discouraged.
In this week’s Torah portion Vaera God tells Moses to say to the
Israelites: “I will free
you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will
redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements.
And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know
that I, YHVH, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. I
will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I YHVH” (6:6-8) Thanking God
for delivering us out of slavery, we drink 4 cups of wine, one for each
language of redemption at the Seder table.
Despite promising to redeem the Jewish people by
emphasizing it with four and possibly different languages of redemption, they
didn’t listen because their spirits were broken and their lives were hard. “But when Moses told this to the Israelites,
they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage.”
(6:9). Who can blame them? They were discouraged as the result of their bitter
enslavement in Egypt. That being the case, Israel’s reluctance to listen to
Moses’s instruction called for understanding and compassion, not censure.
What should we do when others won’t listen? Winnie the
Pooh’s words enshrine wisdom: “Be patient.” Love and patience along with
understanding and compassion will help your words being heard.
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