“Listen carefully…and attend with the ear of your heart.” On reflecting on today’s readings, my thoughts went to an earlier time in my life, where much of my spirituality was rooted with the Benedictines. St. Benedict opens their rule with the instruction to “Listen carefully” and “attend with the ear of your heart,” oftentimes being shortened to “listen with the ear of your heart.”
There is a lot of listening in today’s readings, Samuel is not listening deep enough and mistakes the Lord’s voice with Eli’s. They are not listening with the “ear of their heart.” Listening, but not hearing. The psalm has us all responding, “Here am I.” We could turn this phrase to “Hear I am” I hear you, Lord, and am responding. Responding to you, like sheep hearing the voice of their shepherd or children hearing their parent’s voice cut through the noise. I listen for you with the ear of my heart.
Listening, for me, is discerning. Am I hearing the message beyond the words or emotions that carry it? Am I listening in that space of grace between myself and God. Am I doing God’s will?
Discernment is learning to know. Knowing when to act, when to wait. When to seek console or when to move on, even if the work being done is good. Jesus could have stayed longer in Capernaum, but their purpose was larger – Jesus continued moving from doing good to doing other good. How hard it is for me to know when it is time to move on, to go to new villages along my journey, continuing to help and heal. Continuing to listen to all with the ear of my heart.