Listening
Recently, my wife came back from seeing one of her long-standing friends. ‘She remembered how you like porridge,’ Jane told me.
Being a (at times, intensely) private person, I felt myself bridle inwardly: ‘What’s that got to do with them? How do they know?’, I thought but didn’t say. My feelings were further aggravated when what I heard next was: ‘And that you like the other cereal.’
The incident, though, was a classic case of ‘a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.’
For the conversation had been about Ronnie Barker’s classic comedy Porridge and the spin-off serial Going Straight.
Such misunderstanding and mishearing are commonplace, aren’t they?
The ability to listen to someone – and to feel listened to – are important aspects of our relationships with other people. And just think how much more complex it is when it comes to talking to and listening to God.
In my previous devotional post, I outlined the principles of Benedictine spirituality: one of which is obedience. The word ‘obey’ comes from Latin, meaning listen, to hear others. As Pope Francis once said, ‘Obeying God is listening to God, having an open heart to follow the path that God points out to us. Obedience to God is listening to God and it sets us free.’ (1)
And yet when it comes to listening to God, we can easily put words in to God’s mouth. On the one hand, we might want to hear God affirm our plans and thoughts. On the other, we might constantly feel God is not pleased with us and constantly reminding us of our sins. We might have particular mindsets when it comes to listening to God. We hear what we think we will hear – and sometimes we disregard the rest.
Of all the voices going on in our head, to be able to identify that which is God’s is helpful. For some, it may sound very slightly different: a different tone, pitch or phrasing of words. Perhaps coming from thoughts that have not been our own.
Equally, we might recognise God speaking through events that take place. God may speak through others or through careful contemplation of scripture. Or that holy nudge which led us to visit or pray for someone and we find out that it was God.
Whatever way, God chooses, our place is to listen. For this is God and God knows no bounds (only ours) – and it is that which sets us free.
(1) Pope Francis, Obedience is a listening that sets us free,
www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/obedience-is-a-listening-that-sets-us-free April 2013.
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