Listening for God's Voice

 By Brother Luke

 

It may seem like an oxymoron, but we in the monastic life spend a lot of time talking about silence and listening. Maybe it's not a total oxymoron; one hopes if someone is talking others are listening! And isn't that important? To pay attention when someone is talking, especially when they are talking to you! However, if we are honest we may notice how often our mind wanders even when we are trying to make the greatest effort to stay focused and listen to someone. To listen I have to be silent, both outwardly and inwardly.

            Engaging in a conversation with another can produce a challenge of a different order. I can be so fully engaged in the subject of the conversation that I almost end up listening aggressively. Then I have to hold my tongue, and I have to rein in the itch to finish the other person's sentences. And to truly listen I cannot be pondering my response or comment even before the speaker has finished speaking. Otherwise I end up talking over the other person. And that is when we have to be at peace with silence. It is not bad to let an interval of silence settle in before making a comment or offering our sacred thoughts on the matter.

            Listening is more than something we do with another person. It is also what we do with our environment. I can let my environment speak to me, or I can keep my mind stimulated with music or talk that effectively filters out the sounds or silence of my immediate space. One might protest and say that listening to a podcast or music is listening. It can be. But if we are not really focused on that imported sound, then it can be just noise intended to block out the sounds I don't want to hear. And sometimes the sounds I don't want to hear are the very ones I need to pay attention to. However, I sometimes need to learn to be at peace with my environment and its sounds and to find that inner quiet regardless of the noise around me.

            Listening and silence go hand-in-hand. Silence can be unnerving. People who participate in a silent retreat for the first time often become unsettled by the silence. The inner urge to talk to cover up the silence is a clue to our inner disquiet. The first meal in silence can be most uncomfortable. It can also be very revealing of my inner life. Paying attention to those feelings is a way of listening to my heart.

            Silence is an essential aspect of our profession as monastics. We have areas in our monastery where silence is expected to be observed and respected. In addition, all our liturgical services incorporate pauses for silence. Orthodox liturgical practice is often designed to insure that no silence is ever allowed. Singing, chanting, and praying are all uninterrupted audible activities. And yet, Orthodox hesychast tradition is a meditation practice in which divine quietness is sought. Putting the two together in worship fits our circumstances.

            Getting used to silence is not automatic. It involves training ourselves to engage with silence. Setting aside time in our day for quiet meditation or prayer is an important step. Breaking away from one's routine and going on a silent retreat at a monastery or house of prayer can take our efforts to a new deeper level.

            But we can also search for opportunities to practice silence and listening in our ordinary daily routine. Ordinary household chores can present opportunities to practice silence and listening. Vacuuming may be noisy, but what is going on in my mind at that time may be even noisier! Washing dishes, making the bed, doing the laundry, feeding my dogs, driving to work, gardening, and walking in the woods are all activities that can be profitable occasions to practice cultivating silence and inner peace. And while we are cultivating an awareness of silence in the ordinary, we can sharpen our attentiveness to listening. Listening for what?

            This is when we can take our practice of silence to the next level and focus on listening to God. Worship, private meditation and prayer, and our ordinary daily activities can all be used to contribute to our goal of deepening our relationship with God. This is because God speaks to us through all these activities. Constant prayer is not about blocking out everything around us, but rather bringing it into our "listening for God." God guides us through life, but that can only happen if we remind ourselves that God is with us in all aspects of our life. The more aware we are of the presence of God in our lives at all times, the more secure we become in negotiating the vicissitudes of life peacefully because of our confidence in the reality that we are never alone in this life. God didn't create us to abandon us but rather to support us. By cultivating inner silence and practicing listening, we can begin to truly experience God's presence in a way that is liberating. Do not be afraid, Christ tells us. That is because he is with us always.