Listen to Him!
By Michele McGrath of Blue Springs, MO, USA
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” —Matthew 17:5 NRSV
When I teach membership preparation classes, we play a game: one person, the “disciple”, is blindfolded and told to listen and obey only one “voice.” The “voice” gives the blindfolded disciple directions how to move through an area cluttered with obstacles. Everyone else shouts out false directions. We quickly notice that if the disciple and the voice know each other well (relatives or close friends, for example), the disciple has little trouble picking out the voice and easily navigates the way. But if the “disciple” and the “voice” do not know each other, the disciple has a difficult time discerning the voice from the others and struggles to find the right path.
Listening to the voice is like listening to God. It usually takes a relationship and practice to do it well. Spiritual practices are done repeatedly to draw ourselves nearer to God. Our transcendent encounters with God prepare us to live faithfully in a broken, suffering world. For some, these encounters happen on mountaintops with blinding light. For most, they happen in the ordinary moments—bathing a child, sharing a meal, holding the hand of a lover or one who is ill, laughing with coworkers, reveling in a starry night—any time we make space for the Holy to be present.
How will you intentionally listen to the voice this week?
Prayer Phrase
God is with us.
Invitation to Spiritual Practice
Holy Attention
Ordinary time is a season for awakening to God’s presence in all the details and circumstances of our everyday, ordinary lives. Wherever you are, pay attention to your surroundings. Allow yourself to be fully present for a time with whatever is before you. Where do you sense God with you right now exactly where you are?
How does today’s story invite you to discover God in the realities of your everyday life?
Today’s Prayer for P eace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
