Hearts, Ears, and Mouths
December 31, 2008
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Georges has recently shared some reflections upon the Canticle which closes the morning office of CDP. This song of prayer, borrowed in part from St. Patrick’s Breastplate, is not only a hymn of worship and a request for God’s presence. It is a request that God speak directly to us.
Whether it was in Moses’ flaming shrubbery, the still small voice that came to Elijah, or Saul getting knocked to the roadside by a light from God, our faith has a long and varied history of direct communication from God. We frequently dismiss some of the more dramatic cases of God speaking as ‘not for today’ but regardless of the dramatic degree, God still speaks. One of the many ways we hear him is through one another.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
When we pray that Christ be “in the mouth” of everyone who speaks to us we are asking Christ himself to speak. This is no small request. This is not a prayer to be taken lightly but one that should drive us to listen to family members, friends, enemies and those seemingly insignificant interactions during the day such as the clerk at the cafe or the unknown neighbor walking their dog. I suspect that God likes to speak to us through voices we wouldn’t expect.
At the beginning of this year perhaps we should ask God to give us “ears to hear”. Certainly God speaks to us through Scripture and all kinds of Holy reading but what about through the voices of Darius (who freed the Israelites to rebuild their temple), Balaam’s ass (you know, the donkey), or through Rhoda (the servant girl who brought news that Peter was alive). Can we hear God speak through the voices of ones we know as the “enemy”, “the absurd”, and the “too small or insignificant to be taken seriously”?
Finally, the Canticle has us pray that Christ would be “in the heart of each to whom we speak”. No words are perfect, no intention without mixed motive, and no ears are perfectly attuned, at all times, to God’s voice. Asking for Christ to be in the heart of our hearers gives our words the opportunity to take root in the hearts and minds of those listening. Asking for Christ to be in the heart of our hearers gives our words an opportunity to be transformed by God’s Spirit into that which needs to be heard. In spite of our imperfections, in spite of our stammering, we participate in God’s Kingdom.
If you cannot express yourself on any subject, struggle until you can. If you do not, someone will be the poorer all the days of his life. Struggle to re-express some truth of God to yourself, and God will use that expression to someone else. - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost…, Dec 15
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Thanks Paul,
I am challenged to live with a sense of expectation that God may speak in various and sundry ways. Then comes the crisis of faith whether to believe it and believing it to act on it.