Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Have you ever thought about how well you listen? I have always thought I was a good listener but if I really think about it, I realize there are times during conversations or meetings, or even during church services, that I find my mind has wandered—or even that I have presumed what will be said in advance. This is not a good thing! It most likely means I am no longer truly listening. Today’s Scriptures remind me how important this particular gift is on a moment by moment basis in my life overall and especially in my relationship with God. Listening is an art and needs practice. Listening—in all it’s various forms—requires work, attention, and perseverance.
In the reading from Acts, Paul and his companions are traveling through Macedonia and outside the city encounters a group of women, including Lydia who is described as ‘a worshiper of God’. While they were speaking with the women, the passage states, “Lydia listened and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” I have no doubt that Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, was adept at getting people to listen. As well, I am feel pretty sure when they walked away they had strong feelings about what Paul had said about Jesus. For Lydia and her household, they really heard Paul’s message and were all baptized in Christ. In our day and age this seems an exceptional example of conversion. The reading from the Gospel of John shows that our listening (or in this case his disciples) to Jesus is not usually an event but rather part of an ongoing process. The disciples have been with Jesus for three years. When Jesus begins to speak of the world’s hatred of them and sending ‘The Advocate’ to prevent them from falling away, they listen but cannot comprehend fully what Jesus is saying to them; this will take time and more listening and really paying attention. It is a perfect example that really demonstrates the importance of developing a deep listening, an attentive listening, unencumbered by preconceptions or our own agendas.
When we actively listen for God and perceive the whisper or breath of the Spirit the experience is not of ourselves…we know it is something Other than us. The faith and certitude and transformation are so far beyond our own capacity that we just know can only be the Spirit of God. Then we realize that any insight or knowledge or understanding we have been granted is pure gift, pure grace. We need only listen. It is God who opens our hearts and minds, infusing us with God’s light and love. It is the Spirit who transforms us into disciples and makes possible a relationship with Jesus. And all that is required of us is that we begin to ‘listen’. We are not asked to earn our salvation nor are we asked to work ourselves silly to receive this most sublime of gifts. In truth, there are many times when working for our salvation may seem easier; if we could just work hard enough and be good enough and give everything physically possible we could ‘make it’. But that is not at all what God desires from us. God desires our hearts and, for that, we must learn to listen; that may be our deepest challenge. Many times we do not even realize we are turning our ear from God. Even if we are pious and genuine and pray feverishly, there are corners of our lives that we keep from God’s transforming light and things we just cannot bring ourselves to let go of; we just do not feel ready to trust that much.
This day, let us beg of God that God reveal to us how we are listening to God—God’s light, God’s Spirit, God’s Son. May we set aside all else that our minds may be drawn to and create a space in our minds and hearts to just listen to the Holy Immortal One who speaks to us at every moment of our lives.
--Gail Lyman