The Importance of Active Listening

I've been in settings where someone in a position of authority has told a story of abuse and the hope is that the people listening to the story will do something. What's needed is active listening. It's a response that says, I want to hear your story and understand it as much as I'm able. And yes, I do think those things can be said. You can choose a side. The Bible calls us to stand with the oppressed and the vulnerable in the wounded. Now telling the truth to someone else is difficult because you do not know how another person or a community will respond to your story.