Ash Wednesday

After Carnival by Carl Spietzwig

an image for ash wednesday (click to enlarge)

(ht emerging sideways)

dream to go 12 - are you listening?

In today’s reading over at Dream Lectio, Jesus tells a parable and then asks “are you listening? Really listening?”

The disciples clearly were listening, because in the next passage, they express their puzzlement.

Real listening is not the same thing as understanding. It’s making the difficult, selfless choice to be fully attentive in such a way that I am open to having my thoughts and opinion changed by the person I’m listening to. As a result it often feels far more difficult to “get your head around” someone’s words when you are really listening, than in the kind of shallow half-listening we do most of the time.

Here’s a confession. If you talk to me, the truth is that often I’m listening, but not “really listening”. I’m fitting what you are saying into my little grid of understanding. Categorising the information under “agree”, “disagree”, “useful”, “funny”, “boring”, etc. At the same time of course, I’m planning my response, which will vary from “that reminds me of the time when…” to “gosh is that the time!”

When I make the effort to “really listen” I’ll probably be a little confused a lot of the time (I know because that’s the look on Louise’s face when she’s really listening to me!) I’ll certainly find it more tiring, more demanding, but with infinitely more potential to change my perspective.

We could all do with learning to really listen to one another. But how about learning to really listen to Jesus?

I sometimes get irritated when, in the gospels, Jesus uses so many parables, puzzles and conundrums rather than simple straightforward teaching. And it's easy to just skip his confusing words until I get to something I "get" and like. But the whole point of these parables and puzzles is a million miles from the kind of children's stories or sermon illustrations we've often made them out to be. They are there to puzzle me and to invite me. To draw me in to becoming part of the story as it becomes part of me. If I'll make the effort to listen, really listen.