Listening
From Amelie, with Love
Dear Friends,
Last week, I shared with you how our Gospel readings for the season of Lent offer us an opportunity to “listen in” on the questions that people ask Jesus, and the questions he asks of them. “Our questions are our friends,” I reminded all of you, and they are Jesus’ friends too!
This morning, our reading from the Gospel of John describes an encounter that Jesus has with a Samaritan Woman at a well. What ensues is the longest conversation that Jesus has with anyone in all four of the gospels – and the questions go both ways! What strikes me, however, as I ponder this conversation is that there is a lot of listening going on, too. As the conversation ends, the woman runs home to tell her people, “He told me everything I have ever done.”
Poet Steve Garnass-Holmes sees it this way:
I don't think Jesus was omniscient, that he knew
everything about the woman before meeting her.
I think he was just a really good listener.
He listened to people's hearts, to the unspoken.
He asked questions and let them answer.
May my Lenten discipline be listening.
God help me to listen, to listen like Jesus,
to listen as the sea listens to rivers,
to set aside all I think, all I want to say,
and offer the sacred empty space of listening,
the silence of deep listening.
When I am distracted help me be attentive.
When I am afraid help me be curious.
When I am angry help me be compassionate.
When I am right help me be humble.
When I am in silence help me listen for you.*
This week may our Lenten Discipline be Listening.
In Christ,
Amelie+