I recently read the introduction my new boss wrote to the congregation about me (self-servingly linked to here…). Among the nice things he said, one surprised me; that I was a person who “listens deeply.” Since I’d interrupted him about a dozen times during my interviews, I was glad I came across as a good listener!
That is an attribute ascribed to Mary of Bethany, when Jesus comes to visit the house:
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.
We often think of prayer as what we have to say to God, pouring out our gratitude and grumbles, our hopes and regrets. But saints and mystics throughout the centuries have pointed to Mary’s posture as the beginning of true prayer, sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to what he says.
There are a number of ways we can do that. One is through reading and chewing on his words and actions as we find them in Scripture. Taking a small chunk of Jesus’ teaching, or reading, re-reading and putting ourselves into a gospel story about him is one way we can settle our spirits and start to truly hear from him. Talking to someone else about where we're experiencing God's activity and love, and hearing their stories is another way we listen to Jesus.
And we can learn to listen in prayer. Some do that through cultivating meditation techniques like centering prayer, learning to still the chattering mind and come into a place of deep, unspoken communion with God, in which occasionally we receive words or encouragement. Those of us whose chattering rarely ebbs are hard pressed to truly quiet our minds. We can open our imaginations to the Spirit, inviting God to make himself known through places or scenes that unfold in our mind’s eye. For a time in my life, there was a rocky beach in Greece where I met Jesus in prayer, which was followed by a musty old English church, a chalet kind of house in the mountains, and most recently a forest glade by a pond. Go figure – no one can accuse me of lacking imagination. I didn’t choose these “mediating” spots, as I call them. They unfolded in my mind as I prayed, and I just went with them, asking where Jesus was. Currently there is no mediated spot, just words coming into mind as I pray sometimes.
Our minds might not easily become still, but we can bring our bodies into stillness by setting aside time in our day or week, and even a place in our home or office where we expect to listen to Jesus. I’m sure he doesn’t mind when we talk – after all, our loving God wants to hear from God’s children. But we will find our spirits expanding as we learn to follow the way of Mary, and let ourselves listen deeply to that still small voice of God which is amplified in our silences.
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