Christian Living

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Hearing With Our Eyes

Have you ever turned down the sound to the TV and watch the people as they are talking? The news is a good one to watch, as it is usually done live! Did you notice if they seemed tired? Sad? Sick? Happy? Nervous?

Do we really hear what people are saying? I have acquired a little knowledge of sign language. My daughter, Tabitha was born with Trisomy 21 or commonly known as Down’s syndrome. Sign language has helped her communicate to us just what she is trying to say, because she has great difficulty in her language skills. She has even used her own signs and gestures to tell us something that required a lot of words she just could not say clearly.
I stumbled upon a web site the other day called the Center For Nonverbal Studies. It is a private, non-profit resource center on nonverbal communication, body movement, gestures, facial expression, adornment, fashion, architecture, mass media and consumer-product designs. I found it very informative and enlightening! (However, I must say I STRONGLY disagree with some parts of this website, i.e. evolution).
Here is one aspect I found interesting. An excerpt from The Nonverbal Dictionary:

EYE CONTACT 1. A visual connection made as one-person gazes into the eyes of another. 2. A highly emotional link established as two people simultaneously observe each other's eyes. Usage: Gazing at another's eyes arouses strong emotions. Thus, eye contact rarely lasts longer than three seconds before one or both viewers experience a powerful urge to glance away. Breaking eye contact lowers stress levels (as measured, e.g., by breathing rate, heart rate, and sweaty palms). RESEARCH REPORTS: 1. We generally begin an utterance by looking away and end it by looking back at the listener. While speaking, we alternate between gazing at and gazing away (Nielsen 1962, Argyle and Dean 1965, Kendon 1967). 2. There is more direct gaze when people like each other and cooperate (Argyle and Dean 1965). 3. People make less eye contact when they dislike each other or disagree (Argyle and Dean 1965 {Used by permission from David B. Givens,Ph.Dhttp//members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm)

The light of the body is the eye. (Luke 11:34)

Someone has said, “The eyes are the window to the soul.”

Observing body language, gestures and facial expressions are essential keys to communication and we sometimes miss what people are really saying because we do not practice hearing with our eyes.

Tabitha always “told” on herself with one of her body movements. When she was smaller, we could tell she was ready to take off, because for a split second she would freeze into the classic runner’s stance, and before you could react, she was off like a flash…leaving a puff of smoke and a puffing mother!

Jesus said to “Watch and pray…”

Lord teach me to hear with my eyes. And Lord, ummm teach me to shut my mouth when I need to! Heh! Did I just hear "Amen Sister" somewhere?

Patricia Sprague 2/05

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