Real Listening

December 14, 2008

Advent CandlesADVENT-that period of great anticipatory joy - is a time for waiting, listening and preparation for the arrival of Christ in Bethlehem as well as our hearts.

The word “listening” in Latin is obedire, and audire means “listening with great attention.” That is where the word “obedience” comes from. Jesus is called the obedient one, that means the listener. The Latin word for not listening, being deaf, is “surdus.” If you are absolutely not listening, that is where the word “absurd” comes from. so it might be interesting to note that some body who is not listening is leading an absurd life….

Now, to become a listener, one way to do it is to say, “How can I let the ‘Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want,’” enter in from my mind to my heart? I can say it is here and that is just a statement, but it becomes prayer when I experience the shepherding presence of God in the center of my being…Listening starts precisely when you move from the mind to the heart and let the truth of your being center you down. -Henri J. M. Nouwent, Advent and Christmas

Posted by jamie roach | Filed Under Continuous Formation, Spiritual Formation 

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