What keeps us from being thoughtful listeners?... The simple answer is that listening is expensive. It requires changing the pace at which we live our lives. It takes time... The more profound answer to the question has to do with our humanity. We are members of a fallen race. We are proud, and proud people don’t listen well. We are fearful people, and fear keeps us from entrusting ourselves to others. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We are frequently hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We are compulsively self-serving and often too full of ourselves to humbly listen to others.