Once again, my apologies to any readers. I keep hoping to be more consistent, and my hopes get swamped with the daily, weekly and monthly to-do's. Today is Ash Wednesday. Who knows. Maybe my lenten resolutions will get me to these pages more often. Here's my first attempt at some regularity this Lenten season. We'll see how it goes.
I've been asked to do a reflection on listening for a small retreat group next month, and my mind is already becoming more sensitive to the topic. I pick up references to it more often in the psalms, music lyrics, and in my own random meanderings.
An image crept into my mind yesterday that I want to think about for a bit and see where it leads: it's "listening as breathing." When we breathe, we take in air and it becomes part of us. When we listen, we take in something -- words, ideas, information, attitude, desires -- and it becomes part of us. I want to think about that.
Like the air we breathe, does everything we hear become part of us in some way? If we don't want it to, can we control that? Does what we'd rather not hear leave a residue despite our best efforts?
Only a few highly trained individuals can really control their breathing. The rest of us can stop for a while, but soon our body will step in and force us breathe. We can't physically close our ears like we can hold our breath, so do we have to hear? What's the difference between hearing and listening? How does our free will enter into the act of listening? What happens differently within us when we choose to listen and when we choose not to do so?
I'll think about this. If any readers want to add any thoughts to this process, please feel free to do so. You can help me shape my reflections, and I'd appreciate that.
a ky monk
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