Dear Friends in Christ,

Earbuds and headphones are ubiquitous today and like the old nursery rhyme we can “...have music wherever we go.” But some studies suggest we enjoy our music so loudly that we can damage our hearing and our smart phones can become as much of a barrier to human connection as they are a boon to texting. It may actually affect our ability to hear and listen.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Let anyone with ears to hear listen” and “Pay attention to what you hear.” (Mark 4:23-24). While Jesus is referring to listening, then attending to his teaching (a practice in which we engage when praying the Daily Office), we are also called to attend to the words of our neighbor. Attending, or listening, to each other helps fulfill our baptismal promise to love one another and can, in that connection, stave off isolation.

On my journeys around our diocese I have the privilege of hearing many different stories: personal ones and parts of a congregation’s history. As I listen, I find that the church becomes populated with people, events and life; almost like a hologram. In my mind’s eye I can see the bustle in the kitchen as the hungry are fed; I witness a big celebration for Christmas, I imagine the sound of contained chaos from a youth group lock-in. And, sitting quietly in a pew, I know there are other stories of soft sorrow and comfort that have been shared in that place. Attending to these stories; listening to the deep tales of our lives, are how our world gets filled, not by images on a screen, but by living, feeling persons.

Hearing, truly listening, is a silent gift that sounds between two people like a great bell. We don’t hear the tone with our ears, but we can feel the hum of its vibration in our bones during important conversations. Listening to that hum is one of the habits of a practicing believer – we bequeath our love of neighbor by the gift of single-minded attention to their words. A hospitable coffee hour will include some yummy food, but real conversation and listening to our guest are the best menu we can offer. 

While good listening is learned, some people just have a gift for it. My challenge for each one of you this month is to look around the places you inhabit; your Vestry, a volunteer gathering, or the camping chairs at a soccer game, and find The Listener. The Listener is the person who seems to have a gift for getting folks to share their story – a knack for hearing and seeing who a person really is. It may be a child, it may be an elder, or it might be the sexton. Also, I challenge you to discuss the practice of truly listening with your leadership team at church. For disciples, this practice will always have the component of listening to God in Scripture and worship, along with one on one interactions.

Then, together as a group, commit to asking God where he is calling each individual to become The Listener. Try listening at church, getting coffee, or at the dog park. Ask God to open your eyes (and ears) to the person who needs to be heard, then, see what God does with this spiritual experiment. I believe we will hear more than personal stories. I believe we will hear the active presence of God reverberating in our midst; we will hear the sound of Jesus footsteps as he goes ahead of us into our neighborhoods, already finding the lost and restoring what is broken. We will listen and hear the Good News of God echoing in the world around us.

We are, each of us, in the service of God, who is the True Listener, the Holy Spirit who hears the cry of God’s people and has answered by sending the Son, God incarnate, who breaks through our isolation and walks alongside us. Thanks be to God who hears our cry, opens our ears, and calls us to listen.

In Christ,