Often people come to us not asking for advice or counsel. We don’t have to have the answer. We don’t have to solve the problem. They just want a listening ear. A listening ear can help people to work out their own wisdom. A friend who serves as a chaplain is surprised by the number of times she emerges from a hospital room with the patient’s words of gratitude ringing in her ears: “You were so helpful.” “I didn’t do anything,” she confides, “I just sat, listened, and smiled, or sighed, and nodded. They figured it all out for themselves.”
