COMMENT RECEIVED ON “LISTEN”:

I agree with you 100 %; Although, for me, It is easy to say, and so hard to do.

Listening to God, requires total silence; it requires being able to stop the mind and focus your attention in listening. One issue that happens to me, is being afraid of not being able to listen to God, so the first reaction is to activate your mind and assume that He already did talk to me. So the question is how do you know what to listen for?

MY RESPONSE:

Listening does require total silence in prayer but that is not the only time we can listen to God’s Word. We listen to God and our Lord in others, in every day events, when we worship, as we admire creation, deal with difficulties, read Scripture and other spiritual readings—the list is endless. We are always listening!

If we are listening, does this mean that we hear the message God is sending us? We hear many things during the day—traffic noises, TV, radio, stereos, IPODS, people talking—but are we listening to these noises and paying attention to them? Probably not. They are background noises that are there and we hear them but we don’t take them in.

Listening to God is different. It is the amount of attention we pay to what we hear and take in that makes a difference. If a relative or friend or stranger comes up to us and asks for our time in order to talk to us about a concern, do we stop what we are doing to listen to them? Perhaps if we thought it was God speaking to us, we would!

When we read Scripture and a verse catches our attention and we need to think about it, do we realize this is God speaking to us?

At Mass, when we give the sign of peace to those around us, do we smile automatically as we shake their hand or do we look them in the eyes and inwardly bless them? Have we heard God deep within asking us to be sincere in our handshake and truly bless others?

Take a walk outside. Look at the mountains. Breathe in the dry desert air. Admire the blooms on plants. Take pleasure in the birds, butterflies, and insects flying around in the early morning air. Fill your eyes with the beauty of the blue sky and floating clouds and the night sky with its shining stars and glowing moon. God speaks in these ways, too.

Hug your wife and children. Tell your parents you love them. Say a kind word today to those you work with. Compliment someone who needs to be uplifted. Be patient with those who annoy you. God is asking for your attention. Yes! He is speaking to you to be God’s Word to others!

Pray and listen, we are told. We can pray wherever we are at any time of the day. Therefore, we can listen to God speak wherever we are at any time of the day. Awareness of the present moment is how we listen to God. He is here, now and always. Open the ears of your heart and listen to the Lord Who abides deep within.

Alma Maish