learning to listen

I just finished listening to a church history course lecture on Medieval Spirituality.  Spirituality is a hot topic again in our day, but it often comes in the form of a thinly-veiled quest for personal power or fulfillment or peace of mind rather than a genuine attempt to know God and align ourselves with His will.

Medieval Spirituality centered on the practice of prayer.  Unbroken communion with the Most High was the goal.  As Henri Nouwen said, "Jesus was all ears. That is true prayer: being all ears for God. the core of all prayer is listening, obediently standing in the presence of God."

But to listen we have to shut out the noise. And in our technology-saturated culture that is harder and harder to do. Our computers and cellphone and ipads call to us.  Facebook updates and blog posts (like this one!) pull our attention away from our need to be still and listen.  Charles Ringma (Dare to Journey wtih Henri Nouwen, reflection 52) speaks of it as an "outward momentum" that prevents us from "time for inwardness."  He says, "It is not only that we are busy doing things, nor that we spend a lot of time thinking about what should be done; it is also that we become restless when there is nothing on our immediate horizon.  We are therefore outwardly focused even when we have the opportunity to enter the inner sanctuary for refreshment and renewal."

I know that restless feeling all too well.  I feel a compulsion to check email again (even though I checked 5 minutes ago).  I feel like I'm missing something so I check Facebook or find a blog to read or call my mom.  For some of you the TV or the refrigerator becomes your quest for that something. All the while what we need most is to be still.  To be unplugged from constant status updates and breaking news.  To listen.  Just listen.

It feels odd at first.  It's awkward and empty.  But as we train our minds to focus on the unbounded love of God, we can learn to drink deeply of that love, and silence becomes sweet.  I, for one, would like to get to that place where listening prayer is as natural as breathing.

a tale of two performances

Eliana and I watched two holiday performances this month.

The first was the Nutcracker Ballet, which we attended with her 4th grade class.  It was the first time either of us had seen it.  One of her classmates danced as an angel and a soldier in the ballet.  While everyone did a good job, and some of the dancing was truly amazing, I left with a sort of hollow feeling about the overall storyline.  A girl who is rather ill-tempered gets lots of presents on Christmas, falls asleep, and dreams that her toys have come alive.  Did I miss something?

The second performance was Handel's Messiah, which we attended last night at a church across town.  The 2-1/2 hour free concert included not only a live orchestra flanked by hundreds of choir members, but also a dramatization of Handel's life as he wrote the oratorio.  Screens overhead displayed the words straight from Scripture that serve as the lyrics to Handel's masterful compositions.  Eliana and I were both mesmerized.

I have always loved Handel's Messiah and listen to it every year, but this was the first time either of us had heard it performed live from start to finish.  I had no idea that Handel wrote the oratorio as a commission by the city of Dublin to raise money for the care of orphans and widows.  That made the music richer than ever. Another surprise was hearing that Handel himself came to a real faith in Jesus as the Messiah while writing this music.  The passion that gripped him them was so evident as we listened.  Eliana and I left with hearts full of gratitude for God's gift to us in Jesus, and for such a deeply meaningful evening together. 

If you ask me, the Nutcracker doesn't hold a candle to the Messiah!

lessons from little house

We're transitioning to a new form of family entertainment.  After watching 9 full seasons of Little House on the Prairie, we're moving on to Christy.  No show is perfect, but there are a lot of things I liked, and will miss, about Little House:

• Pa.  He reminds me of my Dad.  Strong.  Wise.  Caring.  Courageous.  A good, hard worker who can do just about anything. And lots of dark, curly hair.
• Real life issues.  If it's been awhile since you've seen Little House you may remember it as a squeaky clean show.  Not so.  Little House deals with all sorts of gnarly issues like alcoholism, drug addiction, adoption, revenge, child abuse, physical and mental illness, gambling, natural disasters, and deep-seated unforgiveness.  Through it all the Ingalls' kids learn honesty, forgiveness, perseverance, and the importance of faith.
• Laura.  There was something special about watching her grow from a toothy little "half pint of cider all drunk up" to a young woman with grace, dignity, spunk, courage, and a whole lot of her pa's wisdom.  Incidentally, Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura all those years, now plays Ma on Broadway.  I like that.
• Mr. Edwards.  I'm so glad they brought him back for the last season.  He's so rough around the edges, not at all refined, but knows just what to say when it needs sayin'.  And he's not afraid to love.
• A close-knit family.  The Ingalls family had their challenges, but they were committed to each other.  How unusual to have such healthy family dynamics onscreen for all to see.  They faced a lot of real life, but they did it side-by-side.
• No commercials. 

It's been a fun tradition to pop a huge batch of popcorn on Sunday evenings and watch Little House together.  It took us about four years to get through all nine seasons.  Now that's a lot of popcorn!