do you hear what I hear?

To review, these are the prompts I'm working from this Advent season:

My first reaction to today's line is frustration, because our world's recent spate of tragedies and the ongoing debates in political campaigns and halls of government leave me feeling like different groups of people are hearing very different things.  How will we ever make progress if we are listening to completely different messages?

The key may be in the question.  Do you hear what I hear?  Are we really, really listening to discern what others are hearing?  What thoughts and feelings lie underneath these disparate messages?  I will never hear what you hear if I fail to reflect upon both your interpretations and the reasons for your interpretations.  I will never be able to share what I hear without a foundation of understanding where you come from. 

Do you hear what I hear?  I hear pleas for a world without violence.  I hear sorrow over oppression.  And I hear many -- on all sides -- who capitalize on our ability to drown others out through damaging rhetoric that capitalizes upon corrupted "solutions" to our deepest concerns.  I pray for a world where we prioritize hearing over speaking, and understanding over simplistic solutions.  God's creation is too important to practice anything less.