The Listening Post

SJSpirit is a member of the national Listening Post organization and is proud to bring this service to the campus. You will be able to find us in or around the student union at many different times. You will know it is the Listening Post because you will see the sign, a checked table cloth and a huge pile of roasted peanuts in the shell for you to enjoy. The post will be staffed with students and others who choose to be here on campus for you. We are in the Student Union just about every day by the North Door. See you there!

Folks gather for casual conversation, perhaps to share a joy or concern, to see a friendly face and a welcoming smile. Often the cracking open of the peanuts is symbolic of the dialogue that opens folks to each other. Our mission is to provide a nonjudgmental place to talk where anger is defused, hurt begins to heal and life is improved.

Our Philosophy...

The world is so empty
if one thinks only of mountains, rivers, and cities,
but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who,
though distant
is close to us in spirit,
this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
-- Goethe, 1749-1832

The above quote expresses in poetic terms what The Listening Post aims to accomplish. It’s an amazingly simple concept: Be there and listen. Don’t advise or instruct, but silently and fully listen. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone wants to tell that story to someone in order to connect or to heal.