EDM 2 Lecture 4

 A young husband comes home one night, and his

wife throws her arms around his neck: “Darling, I
have great news: I’m a month overdue. I think we’re
going to have a baby! The doctor gave me a test
today, but until we find out for sure, we can’t tell
anybody.” The next day, a guy from the electric
company rings the door-bell, because the young
couple hasn’t paid their last bill: “Are you Mrs.
Smith? You’re a month overdue, you know” How do
YOU know?” stammers the young woman. “Well,
ma’am, it’s in our files!” says the man from the
electric company. “What are you saying? It’s in your
files?????” “Absolutely.”
 “Well, let me talk to my husband about this
tonight.” That night, tells her husband about the
visit, and he, mad as a bull, rushes to the electric
company offices the first thing in the morning.
“What’s going on here? You have it on file that my
wife is a month overdue? What business is that of
yours?” the husband shouts. “Just calm down,”
says the clerk, “it’s nothing serious”. All you have to
do is pay us.” PAY you? And if I refuse?” “Well, in
that case, sir, we’d have no option but to cut yours
off.” “And what would my wife do then?” the
husband asks. “I don’t know. I guess she’d have to
use a candle.”
What is wrong with the
conversation?
Why good communication is
important?
❑ We live in an information-driven society, where
communication determines how fast we learn.

❑ Cooperation and collaboration underpin how we work

together. At the human level, our social resources play
a massive part in our happiness and well-being in our
dialogue with the world.

❑ We embrace communication as one of the keys to an

effective loving dialogue.
I. To Dialogue is a Nature of the Human Person

❑ The human person is a composite of body and a spiritual

soul. Thus, his/her fulfillment and happiness depend on the
satisfaction of both bodily needs and spiritual needs.

❑Since the human being is created by and in the image of a

loving God, to love and be loved is his/her greatest
spiritual need.
 Spirituality is our love relationship with God and all his
creatures. It is our vertical (towards God) and horizontal
(towards others and the rest of God’s creation) dimensions of
life by which we live out our identity.
 II. God’s Act of Dialoguing with Humans

✓At the center of one’s spirituality is the Spirit of God.

With regard to having God as the source of

spirituality, this prayer of De Mello is worth-
reflecting,

“Remember, Lord, you need me just as much

as I need you. If you did not exist, whom
would I pray to? If I did not exist, who would
do the praying?”
✓ In reality, God does not need human
beings because He is perfect.
✓ The prayer of De Mello is but just a
recognition of what God has done for
the sake of love for humanity.
✓ Despite his being perfect and eternal,
He stooped down to the level of
human beings and engage in an act of
dialogue.
Jesus Christ became like us in
everything except sin (Heb. 4: 15) to
be in solidarity with us.

God’s unconditional love made him

adjust to human beings, His beloved
children.
✓ God’s continuous dialogue with humans is
channeled through creation, events, people and
relationships, Scriptures and a lot more. By means
of all these, God communicates with human
beings in love.

✓ This Divine communication is the very reason why

humans can communicate with God. Had God not
spoken to humanity, then human beings would
not be able to talk with God, to pray to Him, to
dialogue with Him.
III. Engaging in Dialogue with Others
 ➢ It is an encounter of persons where there is an act of giving and
receiving of selves.

➢ All parties involved can share ideas, feelings and experiences without
fear of rejection, discrimination and betrayal.

➢ It requires opening oneself to the other and listening to his/her words.

➢ All parties in dialogue must recognize

themselves reciprocally as partners
with equal rights. They must assume
the fundamental attitude of respect
for the freedom of each other to
express ideas and opinions.
 Dialogue is genuine if it is anchored on truth, which must
be allowed to surface. Solution to conflict is not possible if
the unspoken truth does not emerge and if it is not
brought to a level of rational, verbal dialogue.