How often do you pause just to listen?
And not to listen to a show, a podcast, the rustle of leaves or even the rain on the roof…
… but quietly listen until you hear what God has to say just to you?
I have to say that though I have reflection and prayer as a regular part of my life… the quiet listening part is REALLY hard for me.
I always want to interject.
I want to talk and talk and talk to God until it feels like God is speaking through my words.
… and maybe that’s okay…
After all, God speaks to us in ways that we can hear. God recognizes our unique ways of engaging with the world and the Divine and meets us where we are at.
Though sometimes I imagine even God wants to throw up God’s hands at me in exasperation, I never am able to imagine God giving up finding a way to reach me.
Maybe in the moments when I can’t think of what to say next or my brain finally needs to take a breath, God jumps in… like the flute players in Mary Oliver’s poem.
The poem ends with these lines:
“Some of them, after a while,
jumped up
and disappeared back inside the busy town.
But the rest—
so quiet, not even thoughtful—
are still there,
still listening.”
So whether you are paused to listen or running back to the busy town hoping God will find you among the crowded streets…
I hope today you know that God will find a way to give you and me the answers we long for.
