Listening God
Our God is a God who listens to us
The Birther of the entire cosmos, the One who rules the heavens and the earth and under the earth is a Listening God. A God who loves and cares for us to the point of contorting the Godself to bend down and stoop low to listen to the whimpers and whispers and cries for mercy from his children. A God who comes alongside us to be with us no matter what is happening. A God who at the beginning of time heard the voice of Abel’s blood cry out to him from the ground where it was spilled. A God who heard and saw and felt the suffering and affliction of His people in bondage to Pharoah and his taskmasters. A God who continued to bend down and listen to the hearts of people embodied in the face and person of Jesus. God is a Listening God.
Our God is a God who wants us to listen to Him.
The God who listens to us is also a God who wants us to listen to God.
When Moses was at the end of his life and the new generation of Israel was on the precipice of crossing over into the promised land, he addressed the covenant people on what was most important for them moving forward. He urged them not to repeat the mistakes of their parents’ generation, wanting them to experience the full blessing of the promised land. But to do so, he emphasized, the people must learn to listen to God.
Moses instructed them saying, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This instruction from Moses to the people has become a prayer that is one of the most famous prayers in the Bible. It is called the Shema. It was a daily prayer for ancient Israelites and is still recited by many today.
The Shema gets its name from the first Hebrew word of the prayer, shema, translated as “hear” or “listen.”
In Hebrew, hearing and doing are the same thing. Shema carries the meaning to allow the words to sink in, provide understanding, and generate a response—it’s about action. The nuances of shema are used to mean more than just, “let sound waves enter your ear.” So, shema means to hear and to pay attention to. And even more, it can also mean to respond to what you hear.
Hear. Focus. Pay Attention. Respond.
But also notice that from God’s point of view, listening is the same as keeping the covenant. When God asks the people to shema, what he means is that they are to listen and obey.
And that’s another fascinating thing about shema. In ancient Hebrew, there is no separate word for obey, meaning to carry out the wishes of someone who knows better than you or is an authority over you. This is not in the form of a command—do this, not that—rather, it is invitational: an invitation to respond to what you have heard.
Knowing this brings a good and kind God into focus.
Our God is a God who wants us to listen to others.
We have a God who bends down and stoops low to listen to us. We know the felt sense of belonging and acceptance that is experienced. We also have a God who dwells within us and we bear God’s image and therefore have a capacity and a divine mandate to listen to others for the healing of this world.
Rachel Naomi Remen reminds us that,
“Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to affect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen, we offer with our attention an opportunity for wholeness. Our listening creates a sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. That which has been denied, unloved, and devalued by themselves and others. That which is hidden. When we listen generously to people, they can hear the truth themselves often for the first time.”
I have an image I carry with me as I enter the sacred ground of deep listening, be it in spiritual direction or with family, friends, or acquaintances. My ear is to the ground of someone’s heart and life. My eyes are closed as I focus on what is underneath and between the words I hear. This kind of deep listening is often the most precious and transformative thing we can offer to other human beings. God reaches out in places we expect and in places, we do not. God will bloom in the cracks of any fracture.
Questions to Ponder:
When have you experienced the Listening God listening to you?
Is there a place within you that wants God to listen to?
What does God’s voice sound like to you?
What has been your experience with deep listening to others?
Inspiration
For the past month or so, the song/chant from the Mosaic Church in South Africa has become the background music of my life. It sings me to sleep at night and awakens me each morning. I encourage you to listen and let it sit inside you and do its transforming work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URZArVsFXB0&list=OLAK5uy_lkC-JY505QaxtWLO_fJzCxgkRr45cHaqQ&index=9
Listen to Me.
Be silent.
Listen; be silent.
And I will give you wis-dom.
Listen.
Be silent.
Teach Me to Listen, O God
Teach me to listen, O God
to those nearest me,
my family, my friends, my co-workers.
Help me to be aware that
no matter what words I hear,
that underneath it all
the message is,
“Accept the person I am. Listen to me.”
Teach me to listen, my caring God,
to those far from me—
the whisper of the hopeless,
the plea of the forgotten,
the cry of the anguished.
Teach me to listen,
O God my Mother,
to myself.
Help me to be less afraid
to trust the voice inside
in the deepest part of me.
Teach me to listen,
Holy Spirit,
for your voice—
in busyness and
in boredom,
in certainty and doubt,
in noise and
in silence.
Teach me,
Lord, to listen.
Amen.
- Adapted by John Veltri, SJ
Listen
It is not my business
to seek enlightenment
or holiness:
mine only
to listen to the wind
caressing all creation,
to be awed
at the tumbling of the waters
soaking up all dried things:
mine only to delight
in the song of the bird
and be attractive
to the rhythmic beating
of the earth
beneath my feet
mine only
to receive with love
all that rises to meet me
at the dawn
of each new day
- Author Unknown
I am here to serve your soul in whatever ways you might need or long for … spiritual direction, spiritual companionship, leadership coaching, enneagram coaching, Ignatian Spiritual Exercises guide, and guided retreats. What does your soul need? What does your soul want?
Listening, Becky