“Speak Lord, for your
servant is listening.” -1 Samuel 3:9
Those who know me, even a little, know that I am a person of
words. I love to talk. I am “verbal processor,” meaning I tend to
think things through by talking them out.
I love to write. I love to
read. So, those who don’t know me so
well, might be surprised to find out that my favorite form of prayer is to sit
in silence… listening. My interest in contemplative prayer began
during a “guided imagery” retreat I attended when I was an intern pastor over
thirty years ago. More recently, I have
been practicing what is called “Centering Prayer,” a form of contemplative
prayer developed by Fr. Thomas Keating in the 20th century, but
rooted in prayer practices that go back centuries. For
me, listening prayer balances the wordy world I inhabit most of the time.
Sometimes I think that listening for God is a lost art in a
world filled with so much noise and so many words. We are, so often, quick to speak and slow to
listen. God can feel distant, and
sometimes belief is hard, not because God is absent, but because we’re simply
not paying attention. We do not see God
at work in the world around us because our constant busy-ness has dulled our
spirits and weakened our senses. We
fail to grasp what God is saying and doing in our lives because we so often
divorce ourselves from the stories of faith found in scripture, the regular
practice of worship and the communities of faith who can help us interpret,
understand and live into the presence of God’s love for us.
The story of the elder Eli and the young Samuel has long
been one of my favorite stories from the Hebrew Scriptures. In a secular society and culture like ours,
where so many seem to practice a vague, generic “spirituality,” I resonate with
the introduction to the story, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days;
visions were not widespread.” (3:1) Even Eli, an old priest who should have
known God’s voice, takes a while to figure it out when God calls to the boy
under his tutelage. But, when he finally
does, he gives Samuel sage advice:
“Listen.”
Samuel follows his master’s direction. “Speak Lord, for your servant is
listening.” The young prophet says when
God calls to him. It is not an easy
word he hears from God. But that, I have
discovered, is often the case. God’s call challenges. God’s call often pushes us in directions and
pulls us to places we never thought we would or could go. God’s call can be uncomfortable. But
listening for God’s still small voice in the midst of a noisy, wordy world also
opens us to the depth of grace that is ours even before we listen, to a
relationship of abiding love that is ours even before we ask for it, and to a
presence and power that never abandons us, even on those days when our spirits
are dull with doubt, our senses are weak with uncertainty and our ability to
listen clouded by troubled hearts and minds.
Peace,
Bishop Mike.
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