Empty Enough To Hear

We stand daily before God with empty hands.  

 Esther de Waal     

  

To have a rule that one returns to daily, even one as simple as mine, does require obedience. That scary word comes from the Latin word obaudiens, or to listen intently (I must thank Esther de Waal for this knowledge. I seldom remember to ponder the richness of the history of words). Whatever form our prayer takes, there comes the moment when we must surrender to listening.  Not just with our ears, but with our selves.  There are times when I am leading worship and I hear only silence. That is when I know God is a listening presence because it is the same silence I hear at the bedside of one is passing.

The first word of Benedict's prologue to the Rule is listen. 

 

The invitation is for us all.