All that I asked was that you listen, not talk or do, just listen.
Advice is cheap, a quarter will buy you both Dear Abby and Ann Landers in the same newspaper.
I can do for myself. I am not helpless, maybe discouraged and faltering but not helpless. When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
But when you accept the simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational. I can then quit trying to convince you and can get about the business of understanding what's behind this irrational feeling. When that is clear, the answers are obvious and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what is behind them.
That is why prayer works, sometimes, for some people. Because God is mute. He doesn't give advice or try to fix things. Just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
So please listen, and just hear me, and if you want to talk, just wait a minute for your turn, and I will listen to you.
