When I respond to comments on the channel Off the Left Eye, there is a range of tones. Many are effusive in their appreciation. Some are hurting. Others are flat out snarky. But it is the teasers that confuse me. They might pose a hypothetical challenge, like "Is it God when the crops do well, but not God when they fail?" 

It is marshy ground, deciding whether the writer is actually curious, or just taunting me for an argument. I have not a whiff of interest in conflict. We will never meet, and I do not even know the person's real name. What I want to say, and never do, is simply "Why are you asking?"

In the absence of such a litmus test for readers, I can apply it to myself. 

When I ask John why he is late, is it to extend compassion for the traffic jam he sat in, or a preamble for being annoyed? If I inquire why someone is taking a gap year, is it to hear how they are trying to figure things out, or to get my foot in the door for giving advice? If a young mother is expressing her frustration with her child, do I listen merely for the right to drop a lump of wisdom in her lap, or to brush some of the weight of her exhaustion away?

Why am I asking? Perhaps if I look closely at that gatekeeper, I can diminish my contribution to noise pollution. Then I will be better able to hear the quiet messages that truly matter, like ice melting in the spring.