Good morning…
How does God do it? How does God whisper in surround sound? At 2:30 in the morning, how does God spark me to write yesterday’s post, “The art of holy listening,” then wake me again at 6:00 am to read these companion, online words from Henri Nouwen’s 1.14.16 daily meditation?
Nouwen says profoundly: “Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day or night when we are not thinking. You might say our thinking is “unceasing.” Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from many worries, guilt feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of our unceasing thoughts? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with our God, who is the source of all love. Let’s break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds.”
Why suffer alone with our racing thoughts? Our inner monologue can be converted into fuel for our continuing dialogue with our Creator, who is the Source of all love and grace, all peace and wisdom. Our human minds are wired to think without ceasing. As we shift our thoughts from an isolating monologue into an intimate dialogue with that Someone who dwells in the center of our being, we find ourselves developing the art of holy listening, naturally living in a state of unceasing prayer. As we go through the motions of our ordinary day, might we see our analyzing and our reflecting, our daydreaming and our dreaming, even our worrying and our fearful obsessing as God’s invitations into dialogue?
Be unceasing and persistent in prayer, 1 Thessalonians 5:16 (AMP),
Sue
