I think it’s what we as people perhaps most need: to be heard.
it’s the cry over and over again from the Psalms: hear me O Lord. hear my cry.
I also have concluded that I think it’s also what we as a people are perhaps worst at: hearing.
Oh we think we hear. we think we listen. and I’ll go further than that - we try to hear. we try to listen - genuinely, honestly, faithfully I do believe that most of us try to hear and to listen.
But we get in the way. Our hearts, our desires, our hopes, our thoughts, our convictions - us, we: gets in the way of listening and of actually hearing the cries that rise from those who reach out to us. We fall so very short of doing that which we each so desparately need.
And my goodness, if we have a hard enough time listening and hearing those audible voices speaking in our ears and likewise those non-verbal cries painted right before our very eyes — no wonder we struggle to hear God. The God who more often than not doesn’t speak in the wind, in the fire or in the earthquake but the God who more often that not speaks in the still, small voice.
Not to long ago, someone sat in my office asking how is it that she could hear God say one thing and someone else hear God say the complete opposite - on exactly the same issue.
It is so difficult to really hear, to listen without the desire to hear what we want to hear. We don’t listen well. We don’t hear each other. And it makes me really wonder how well we actually hear God (though I find consolation in knowing that God speaks far more than we could ever understand or fully grasp anyway, and so reason tells me then that perhaps we only are able to hear bits and pieces anyway - maybe that’s why he so often chooses the still, small voice - harder to hear, but easier to grasp, maybe?)
Tonight though, I find these thoughts that have grown over the last few weeks, somewhat comical in light of the fact that I am taking this two year course in Spiritual Direction - which is really nothing more and nothing less than the art of holy listening. HAH! And I thought I’d been a total slacker again about my learning, my books and my articles (I"m still fairly sure though that there’s another progress-report I’m supposed to have turned in by now).
But then again maybe I’ve actually learned more about what it means to really, really listen - listen beyond words, hear what we don’t necessarily want to hear, listen for what cries beneath the surface - Because unfortunately I’ve been witness to the pain that comes from not hearing and not being heard and hence the essentiality of hearing as well as our failing attempts at hearing have been made as clear as day
I wonder if it isn’t one of our most unmet, deepest needs in this world: to be heard.
I wonder how much easiesr, how much better this world would be if we actually, fully heard each other.
And I wonder what more, God could do, if we actually heard his voice, as well (look what Noah built when he heard God).
I guess tonight I’m really quite pleased that I’ve got these two years of focused intention on this holy engagement of listening… cause it most certainly seems to be one the world’s deepest needs.
And what an honor it is to try to practice the words: I hear you. I hear you.
