Listening...
to God
John Michael Talbot “listens to God” and responds in song (inspired me at a time that I really needed to be listening)
God is listening to you. Are you listening…to God?
Reading through the Bible…I Samuel 1-6/Luke 8-9
Hannah was praying in her heart, silently. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard.
How well we listen to God depends, in large part, on how well we believe God listens to us. If we don’t believe that there is a God, or if we don’t believe that whatever Higher Power that there might be is listening to us, then why would we return the favor?
Hannah has almost gotten to that point in I Samuel’s account. Is God listening? She’s not sure.
She has run out of words to describe the pain of her infertility. She can’t can’t talk about it with anyone, not even God. Her lips move, but no sound is heard.
Eli, the priest in the Temple where Hannah is praying, thinks Hannah is drunk. She explains that she’s not inebriated with wine, she’s just incapacitated with grief.
Hannah wonders whether God is hard of hearing. She discovers, eventually and after much pain, that God is heart hearing.
God hears Hannah’s heart. Hannah gives birth and names her baby Samuel, from the Hebrew roots shama (to hear) and El (God).
When God hears Hannah, Hannah dedicates Samuel to the task of hearing God. She leaves he first born, much longed for child in the Temple with Eli.
What does Samuel do to listen to God after Hannah gives him up for adoption? He does some of the same things we can still do today.
Samuel hears his name called in the night…We can put a pad next to where we sleep, or perhaps a voice activated recorder to record our dreams and thoughts.
Samuel also hears God calling in the Temple…We can find our own Temple. It could be a church, synagogue or mosque. It could be a place in nature. Celtic Christian tradition calls these thin places. In some native American traditions every step outside is a prayer.
Samuel changes to whom he is listening. Samuel starts out listening only to Eli. With Eli’s encouragement, he tunes his ear, instead, for a Divine voice.
Samuel changes the when and where, the who and what of his listening. We can too.
Writing…
Still, today we have some additional challenges in trying to hear from God. It feels like there are a lot more people speaking on God’s behalf, these days. April Ajoy, in comparing Easter messages from yesterday, illustrates, satirically, the challenge (above). *Presidential warning (instead of a parental warning)
If you watched the video (or if you didn’t) Let me ask you specifically, where and through whom do you hear perhaps a faint echo of God’s voice yesterday.
Is it through Donald, who recently gets cast as Jesus Christ by his spiritual advisor? Do you want to join him in his Easter morning post and say praise be to Allah.
Or might you warm up more to Zohran Mamdani’s Happy Easter message that he sends out to millions of New Yorkers who celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the victory of hope over despair and faith over fear?
Tell me (in comments or emails).
Building…
Tell me…But please don’t always listen to me.
Listen, instead, for a more truthful and transcendant voice than mine. If you do not pretend to be Jesus Christ, but might like to be like him, listen to Jesus as He is revealed in the Scriptures.
Whatever your background, find the when and where, the who and what, that will help you hear the Voice that can bring you the victory of hope over despair and faith over fear.
God is listening to you. Why don’t you return the favor.
This morning I viewed a number of pictures of Mayor Mamdani on Facebook visiting with others on Sunday. I'm not sure of the location, but he respectfully bowed his head as a Christian prayed.
People were smiling. Mayor Mamdani was smiling.
You know how I like smiling.
On this day in history, the United States entered the War to end all Wars, WWI.
We failed.