The Listener.

A couple months ago I was in Walmart and browsed their little book section. I made an impulse buy that day, I read the first page of a book and it grabbed me. I didn't even know the name of the book. It was out of the "inspirational section."

When I got home and unloaded my car, I couldn't find the book. I looked for it everywhere, even pulled out the empty plastic bags my other items had been in from the trash, thinking I had somehow discarded it. I came to the sad conclusion that I must have left it in the shopping cart. I prayed that whoever found it would be touched by it. I was so sad, though, because I had really wanted to read it.

A couple weeks later, I was cleaning out the recyclables from my garage. As I lifted the last bag, there was a small Walmart bag. Be still my heart, there was the lost book. I was so happy. I picked it up and put it on my "to be read" shelf.

Another couple weeks went by before I finally sat down and actually read the thing. It was a small book, only 158 pages. It took me all of an hour to finish it. When I was done, I sat there for fifteen minutes pondering the message of the book.

The premise of the book, The Listener, is based on a fellow who wakes up one morning and can hear the heart thoughts of those around him. Kind of like that scene in Bruce Almighty when all of a sudden Bruce could hear all the millions of prayers and how overwhelming they were to him. The fellow in the book I read kept thinking people were talking to him, only to realize that their lips weren't moving. Strange words, like one lady felt that gravity would let her go and no one would ever miss her. He went to a busy mall and was overwhelmed with the needs from people's hearts. Needs they weren't even aware of thinking.

He started to use this "gift" as a way to witness to people, it became his crutch to lead people to Jesus. Then, one morning two weeks later, he woke up and the gift was gone. He was so depressed, he went through his day thinking he could ever talk about Jesus again. He was supposed to speak in a class about how to witness, but he wasn't sure he could.

He was coerced up in front of the group of people at the class and felt uncomfortable. The people who were attending the class started asking him questions about how to witness. At that moment, he realized that in order to witness, the only thing he needed to do was to observe those around him, their body language and words, really listen and pay attention. Someone at the class asked him what the most common spiritual need of every person is.

He replied, "Well, they need to know they're loved, that there's healing, that someone's in control, that they're not a product of their past, that they can be forgiven, that they can be useful, that they're made in the image of God ... " He paused and racked his brain for more.

But suddenly it came to him. There really was only one answer that filled those needs he'd been naming. The same answer he'd been offering for the last two weeks.

He stood there for a moment as the thought took hold of him. "You know, really," he said, I guess the answer to all their questions, the fulfillment of all their needs is Jesus Christ."

To the question of, "If they already know Jesus, what is their need then?"

"The bottom line, basic need of every real Christian," he said, "is to bear fruit like Christ. You can count on it. Every true Christian has that need, whether they want to admit or or not. And the further they are from fulfilling it, the emptier they are."

The book made me stop and think. I'm still thinking. Because I have my "yeah, buts" all lined up. I'm not good at talking. I'm an introvert. I don't have a lot of patience. I have social anxieties. I have unstable health. I'm sensitive and my feelings get hurt easily by rejection.

How in the world am *I* supposed to be a good witness?