Dear grandchildren: Even though I havn't written you for nearly a month I have prayed for you every day and I am so grateful each of your folks have shared with us about your activities. A new experiece has come to me the past three weeks. I tutor 4 wonderful 2nd graders in reading. Three of them had colds. Maybe I didn't wash my hands, or maybe I've been too confident about my immunity. I've had a full-fledged bronchitis, bordering on pneumonia. Today I have laryingitis and for the first time in over 60 years I cannot talk. This is good and humbling for me. So I philosophize: Next to praying for a person, the best thing anyone can do is really listen.

Now for 10 week I have had on Thursday mornings a "Listening Post" sitting 9am. to nearly noon in a beautiful Gazebo on our Campus called La Casita. A sign says: "A PLACE TO BE HEARD AND ACCEPTED." About 20 people have stopped by. Peanuts and oranges and apples are in the bowl on the stool. When no one stops, I just revel in the marvelous trees and flowers in bloom around me. Widows, widowers. many people born in other countries, several lost their parents and relatives in the Holocaust. Some want to talk about their children, and most wrestle with acceptance. I have come to see Listening as a way of loving my brothers and sisters. You know, when eyes meet I think something mysterious flows between two people. Attitudes of sympathetic caring can be conveyed. I often silently pray Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a listening heart, O God and renew a 'Christlike' spirit within me." I am learning not to give advice but ask questions, opening up options. Occasionally, I do share materials, or offer to put something in the area of our conversation in their mailbox. Sitting still is good for me. I have been too activistic and pushy. I am discovering that by truly concentrating I can shut out most of my rushing mind. I am aware of non-verbal communication as I have never felt and observed before. I have always been afraid of silence. All this is to say, I think I am improving and becoming a more wholistic, healthy minded person. Thanks again for listening. I'll be sharing again before Christmas. I love, and I am so very proud of each of you as you invest your lives. Grandad Shikles