“A Good Listener:

  1. listens with with spiritual ears open, hearing and understanding the
      spirit beneath the words;
  2. listens with the heart and mind still and the mouth shut;
  3. listens with no personal agenda;
  4. listens with compassionate spiritual eyes, maintaining involved eye
      contact;
  5. listens with a compassionate heart;
  6. listens with a committed heart;
  7. listens with attentiveness;
  8. listens without judgment;
  9. listens without fear;
10. listens with faith, knowing that the Spirit of God is at work to will and
      do according to His good purpose;
11. waits patiently, quietly and prayerfully through times of silence, making
      room for the unfolding of things previously too deep and too painful to
      even know or express;
12. counts it a privilege to witness a soul in the process of transformation,
      even when it doesn’t look like it;
13. offers to explore options;
14. offers to pray when the time of tears and sharing ends;
15. consoles with words of comfort and confidence in the faithfulness of God,
      which is usually all anyone needs to hear;
16. waits to give advice until asked;
17. offers a hug;
18. recognizes that these are holy moments of eternal consequence;
19. keeps all holy moments completely confidential.”