There is a difference between listening and hearing. Often we hear many things during the course of our day that we can struggle to remember who told us what. It is almost as though news stories and our lives blend into one and our memories become befuddled by trying to call to mind the exact details of what we have heard.
However, there is an intentional way of listening which calls us to be present to the person who is speaking to us. We need to turn off the television and the radio, switch off the computer, put down our book or magazine, and put our mobile phone away. These things as we know can distract from being truly present we are talking to someone else. By focussing on the other person we not only notice what they are saying but how they are saying it. What is present in their tone of voice, how they are communicating non-verbal signals and how they choose their words. It allows us to become attentive and aware of the other.
This is equally as present when we sit with another or whether we sit with God in prayer. Both can be acts of devotion and thanksgiving for the life of another. Looking at prayer for a moment we can use the image of making a time each day to catch up for a coffee. There is an initial phase where we choose where to sit and make ourselves comfortable. There is a greeting where we ask how the other person is going and how good it is that we can be together. We might order the coffee and then while we are waiting we start to discuss general issues of the day and what we have encountered. These preliminary steps act as a prelude to what comes next. We start to reflect on something that is happening in our lives whether it is a special event that makes us particularly joyful or some area we seem to be struggling with. As we speak the other person listens and encourages to say more. After a while, we run out of words and come to a place by we listen to their insight. In speaking we start to see the situation in a new light. We become present to how we are present. There can then come a moment of deep silence where we just look at each other and give thanks. Then at the end of our time together we say thank you and make another time to meet up.
This everyday devotion brings us to a place where we can allow God and others speak to us and we can respond, speak Lord, your servant is listening.
However, there is an intentional way of listening which calls us to be present to the person who is speaking to us. We need to turn off the television and the radio, switch off the computer, put down our book or magazine, and put our mobile phone away. These things as we know can distract from being truly present we are talking to someone else. By focussing on the other person we not only notice what they are saying but how they are saying it. What is present in their tone of voice, how they are communicating non-verbal signals and how they choose their words. It allows us to become attentive and aware of the other.
This is equally as present when we sit with another or whether we sit with God in prayer. Both can be acts of devotion and thanksgiving for the life of another. Looking at prayer for a moment we can use the image of making a time each day to catch up for a coffee. There is an initial phase where we choose where to sit and make ourselves comfortable. There is a greeting where we ask how the other person is going and how good it is that we can be together. We might order the coffee and then while we are waiting we start to discuss general issues of the day and what we have encountered. These preliminary steps act as a prelude to what comes next. We start to reflect on something that is happening in our lives whether it is a special event that makes us particularly joyful or some area we seem to be struggling with. As we speak the other person listens and encourages to say more. After a while, we run out of words and come to a place by we listen to their insight. In speaking we start to see the situation in a new light. We become present to how we are present. There can then come a moment of deep silence where we just look at each other and give thanks. Then at the end of our time together we say thank you and make another time to meet up.
This everyday devotion brings us to a place where we can allow God and others speak to us and we can respond, speak Lord, your servant is listening.
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