“The voice of one crying in the wilderness.” John 1:23

“Truly listening to God is worship.”  Martin Heidiger

“You don’t understand.”

“You’re not listening to what I’m saying.”

“I don’t think you heard what I told you.”

Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of statements like this?

It is incredibly frustrating to not be listened to.  Our technologically addicted and obsessed culture is making it more difficult to listen and much easier to be distracted even and especially at those times when we should be listening.  Our capacity to listen attentively has diminished drastically in recent times.  This applies not only to other people, but to God.

The traditional and accepted places to listen to God is church, the scriptures, and perhaps other people.  These are all well and good, but they tend to focus primarily on hearing with our ears and with our intellect.  I would like to suggest that a deeper listening to God goes much deeper, and involves listening in places and ways that we have never imagined.  As John O’Donahue writes, “True listening brings us in touch with that which is unsaid and unsayable.”[1] I had never appreciated this aspect of listening until first reading about, and then experiencing it myself. So how and where might one listen more attentively to the voice of God?

Listening to God requires entering into the wilderness.  Where was John the Baptist before he began his preaching and baptizing ministry?  And where did Jesus enter into after he was baptized?  And where did Paul go after his conversion?  The answer to all three is the wilderness.  Did you ever wonder what they were doing there?  I believe they were listening to God.  The wilderness was the place of wild beasts, temptations, isolations, and desolation.  Just as it was necessary for them (and others throughout the history of faith) to go through a wilderness experience in order to have their hearing purified and attuned to God, so too it is necessary for us.  We must enter into the wilderness where the soul is dry, our spirits are parched, and we are thirsting for God.  Whether we are led there by The Spirit, willingly enter of our own volition (like St. Anthony), or find ourselves deposited there without any knowledge of how we got there doesn’t matter.  What does is that we recognize that wilderness experience as a time to listen with our whole being to God.  Have you been there?  Are you there now?  What Word has or is God’s Spirit speaking to you?  How is your spirit being refreshed and led?

Listening in solitude and silence.  Here is an oxymoron:  God speaks most loudly in silence.  Contemplate that for a moment.  Proof of this is the three hours of darkness and silence on Good Friday.  Unless we shut out the constant noise that bombards us, or with which we deliberately choose to surround ourself, we can’t really hear God. O’Donahue describes it this way, “Through friendship and love (with God), you learn to attune yourself to the silence, to the threshold of mystery where your life enters the life of your beloved, and the beloved’s life enters yours.”[2]

It wasn’t only Jesus who had to leave the multitudes and enter into The Presence through silent prayer, it was also the monks and mystics throughout the ages.  Listening to God required silence. And the same holds true for us.  Again, O’Donahue, “There is a voice within you that no one, not even you, has ever heard. Give yourself the opportunity of silence and begin to develop your listening in order to hear, deep within yourself, the music of your own spirit.”[3] This “music of our spirit” is, I am convinced, the voice of God.  God’s Word is not merely an external one, but also internal, speaking deeply to our inner being.  This is why we find repeated references to the inner person or inner being in the New Testament writings of Paul.  So, dear one, how much time do you intentionally devote to silence each day for the purpose of listening to God?

Listening with ALL of our senses.  It has been proven that about 75% of all communication is non-verbal.  I have seen this to be true while working with people who are experiencing cognitive challenges and brain changes.  Touching, smiling, and being in tune with one’s “energy” all communicate far more effectively than words.  This blog has gotten a bit long, and there’s so much to say about this topic, so I’m going to save it for next week.  For now consider practicing listening with your senses other than hearing. 

A Blessing of Solitude

May you recognize in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul.

May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.

May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.

May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the façade of your life there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening.

May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.[4]

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[1] “Anam Cara” p. 71

[2] IBID p. 71

[3] IBID. p. 72

[4] IBID. p. 125