A story is told of a father and his young daughter who had had a very strained relationship for some time. Returning from a trip, the father did something that was very unusual for him. As he entered into the room he presented his daughter with a necklace that he had bought her. Completely overcome with joy by this unexpected act of giving, the young girl inadvertently dropped the necklace and went running from the room with tears in her eyes. She returned shortly only to find as she walked into the room that her new necklace was now around the neck of her infant baby sister. "Oh," said the father. "I went on and gave it to her. You didn't like it anyway." He wasn't listening. Apparently he didn't know how to listen to his daughter.
Jesus heals a deaf and mute man in this Sunday's Gospel (Mark 7:31-37). Friends brought the man to Jesus and He heals him on the spot. They are so flabbergasted at Jesus' healing that they all start spreading the Word about how great Jesus is despite Him asking them to keep it quiet. When the deaf man with the speech impediment was healed, both he and all of his companions start proclaiming the goodness of God. So, in the eyes of Jesus, more than one man was healed from deafness and the inability to speak that day. Another thing to note about this healing is that Jesus did it for a foreigner in a foreign country. So hopefully some of His Jewish disciples and other followers got the message that God's graces and benefits are bigger than just one group of people or just one localized corner of the world.
Listening is an art or skill that needs constant attention. We've all heard that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we could listen at least twice as much as we speek. It is a truly disciplined person who can listen well. Most of the time when I listen I am already building up my argument or my reply to what the person is saying before they stop speaking. That is not listing. It's debating. Most folks just want to be listened to when they come to me. They just want to know that they have been heard. After they know they are heard then they want to hear a little advice. But until they are listened to, they'll not be open to my two cents.
I think God likes to (and needs to) be listened to. That to is a skill and an art. I spend an inordinate time talking to God in my prayer. I know that contemplation and meditation are the purest forms of prayer. And I try to spend time during each of my sessions of prayer listening for God. But when God doesn't talk on my schedule, I start filling the silent void with my requests and my idle thoughts. It is a real discipline to sit and truly listen to God. It may not even happen every time we pray, but it truly worth the wait. When the peace, assurance, encouragement, forgiveness, challenge, or compassion comes from God, there is no doubt that God has communicated with us. And then we are folk like the ones in today's Gospel story. Once God has open us we have to share it and live it.
I hope that these meanderings of mine are helpful. I enjoy writing them. It is a prayerful practice for me. If you wish please send me a reply or your reflection upon what you've read.
Paz,
Fr. Chuck
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I have a little garden. It has a basil plant (my pride and joy), two tomato plants, a pepper plant, a watermelon, and some flowers. I will be honest, this is my first real attempt at a garden. Back home, mom and dad used to have a garden but I wasn't allowed too often because I have a black thumb. I have managed to kill three cactus (cacti?) in my time. I was afraid to start the garden here, thinking that nothing would prosper. It took a leap of faith, some spare time, a lot of elbow grease, and some little starter plants to begin my garden...and, of course, some tools.
ReplyDeleteThe dirt was hard, rocky and full of debris. I had been told it had only been a year or so since the area had been used for a garden, but... wow. After taking all of the bad stuff out, putting a bit of good stuff in and working the ground over, I was sweating and tired. I planted and left some space between them, but they were so little! All the work I put into it, and it looked like just a couple green things poking up.
The first week I watered regularly and was thrilled to have the plants still alive at the end of the week. As I grew busier with work, the garden became more neglected. I still saw it here and there, but didn’t do much work, didn’t spend much time. This past week I went to look at my garden and was amazed. It had managed to grow even without my meddling. I had four tomatoes and a ton of basil. Would I have had more if I cared for it properly? There were a couple peppers growing and the watermelon had runners everywhere. But, it was distressing to see the weeds. There were weeds everywhere, many taller than my plants. This morning I went to work in my garden. The weeds had to go. It was slightly overcast, cool but not cold. And, it was quiet, a good kind of quiet that lends itself to listening. With listening came lessons.
Lesson 1: It takes less work and less time to grow weeds than to grow vegetables or fruit. Why does the bad stuff happen faster? Grow faster? Breed faster? Why do we have to wait for good fruit? Why do we have to care for the good plants to get them to grow while weeds thrive with neglect?
Lesson 2: The good stuff is worth the wait. I can’t believe how much better fresh basil and tomatoes taste. It is so different from what you can get in the store. Perhaps half of the flavor is all of the struggle and work that came to get the fruit—it made it sweeter, juicier, tastier.
Lesson 3: God can provide lessons with anything, with everything. We just have to listen. I am like the garden. I need to have work done. I need help getting the weeds out. I need time and sunlight and water to grow and make good fruit, good food. I need the living water and the food from the Son, the Word. And the work is never done. I will always need work. There will always be weeds to pull. There will always be more to do to care for the garden, but it is worth the work. Part of the work is just being, there in the silence, listening.
Lesson 4: Use the right tools. It’s amazing how much faster the work was completed with the right tools. In my own life, I’ve been given tools to use, too. One of these tools, I discovered, is silence. Sometimes I need to shut up and listen to hear what I need to hear.
Thanks for the encouragement to listen, to not be afraid of silence.