Listening?

 Someone told me the meaning of “Are you listening?” It means, are you going to do the right action.  This is what the questioner is asking.  For instance, a parent might say to a child, “Did you take out the garbage?”  The child says yes, but in fact did not take out the garbage and is not about to take out the garbage.  Yes, the words were heard, but the response revealed that the hearer was not going to take any action.  We can hear but not listen.  I think of this in terms of God speaking to me in my scriptures.  I hear it but I do nothing.  I say I believe but no action.  A person in recovery may hear or read their recovery literature and take no action.  They are not listening.  A group’s members are those who listen and take action.  Are you a member of a family if you never help out, are only a taker and not a giver?  Maybe the reason there is so much alienation, a feeling of not belonging, is that people hear but do not listen and we let them have a pass.  We cannot make members.  It has to come from the heart, a loving and self-sacrificing heart.  I need to hear better.  My heart needs to be more auditory.