I offer you two wee stories. The first, a familiar story, one of many versions that can be found on the Internet.
Once upon a time was a man that prayed quietly, “God, speak to me.” And a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear its song. So, the man spoke aloud: “God, speak to me!” And thunder rolled across the sky. But the man wasn’t listening.
The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.” And the stars shone brightly in the night sky. But the man noticed it not. He shouted, “God, show me a miracle.” And a babe was born. But the man was unaware.
So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know that you are here!” Whereupon God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly off his shoulder and walked away.
The situation in the second story may have a familiar ring. It could take place in any setting where two people live together. But for sake of this story, we’ll say it’s a wife and husband team. Each had been having difficulty communicating with the other. And, each had concluded that it was the other who was hard of hearing.
So, one evening the wife sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her husband’s back was turned to her so he could not see her. The room was very quiet; no TV was playing. She whispered, “Can you hear me?” There was no response.
Scooting a just a little closer, she asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still no reply. Quietly she edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.
Finally, she moved right in behind his chair and said, “Can you hear me now?” To her surprise and chagrin, he responded with irritation in his voice, “For the fourth time, yes!”
And Jesus said: Whoever has ears to hear, ought to hear.
So, pondering both of these stories, we might ask:
+ When God speaks, do we make sure we don’t miss some part of the message because it is not packaged the way we expected?
+ Is the problem that God is not speaking? Or, that we are not listening?
+ Or, is the third step where we fail? Are we listening and hearing but, then, we fail to act on what we hear?
We are all familiar with Benedict’s opening word to us in his Rule. It’s the same word that Jesus speaks in this Gospel: Listen. According to a footnote in my Bible, the phrase “Let they who have ears, let them hear” (or a similar expression) appears approximately 14 times in Scripture. I find this interesting because the number 14 is considered to be a symbol of salvation and deliverance. For instance, the 14th day of the 1st Hebrew month is Passover, the celebration of the deliverance from death of the firstborn of the Children of Israel. The angel passed by all the homes where the doorposts had been painted with blood.
That first word in Benedict’s Rule: LISTEN is the key to what he says in the last two chapters of the Rule. If only that instruction, LISTEN, were heeded, what an impact it could make on our own happiness and it would foster peace between peoples. Isn’t attentive listening the master key that opens our hearts for good zeal? Deep, sensitive listening is the undergirding to mutual obedience. The attentive listener can anticipate another’s needs; pick up on feelings, be aware that she’s pushed another’s “buttons” and recognize the need to change the course of the interaction. To truly listen requires attentive spirit. Celeste Headlee in her TED talk says [Celeste Headlee 10 ways to have a better conversation] “If your mouth is open, you’re not listening. If you want to pontificate, write a blog. Listen to people and be prepared to be amazed; everyone is an expert at something!”
Jesus and Benedict each offer us a challenging but attainable ideal. When the monastic falls short of the ideal, we are expected to humbly ask forgiveness both from God and from our Sisters-in-Christ to whom we freely pledge to “form bonds of mutual love and respect and to call forth the best in one another.” (Community Philosophy statement 2018)
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
