Learning someone else means taking the time to watch and listen, not just with our ears, but with our hearts. It involves remembering those interesting things about them, like the way their eyes light up when they talk about horseback riding, or gardening, that you notice what they love and like. Those are the things that define relationships and take you from aquaintances to friends.
Lately I've been hungering for friends who have the same love for music that I have. Who will listen with me to sound of a fiddle, or the sound of voices in harmony, or the solitary sound of an acoustic guitar, and just take joy in the sounds? I know that seems like such a silly little thing, but in my world, it's huge. Music has been probably the largest part of my life since I was small. I love all sorts of music, all kinds of instruments, and a whole variety of voices.
In "learning" about someone awhile back, he told me how he was growing up and his mother would make "blackberry mush"...really not much more than sugar and blackberries cooked with some thickening and served warm over hot biscuits. It was just a little thing, something he remembered that he enjoyed. He wasn't doing anything but telling me about that part of his childhood that happened decades ago. But when the blackberries started to ripen, I gathered a panfull of berries and cooked them up (hoping it was the way he would remember them) and showed up with that and some biscuits. It was just a little thing, but it showed I had "learned" him just a little bit.
Today's challenge: Slow down and take the time to "learn" someone a little today.