Listening is a very demanding activity. We can see this already on the psychological level. Other experiences such as seeing or touching involve considerable passivity and inertia. I establish contact with an objective reality placed before me. But listening is something else. I am placed before a person who wishes to establish communion with me, who intervenes in my life. By its nature this demands active participation. Attention is not enough; there must be a response that engages all our vital energies:
- God speaks. We listen and respond. That is prayer.
- God is revealed. We receive that ray of light shed on the mystery of God, and we commit our life to the gradual discovery of God’s face. That is faith.
- God teaches. We model our mental world on that Truth. That is what Paul calls “doing the truth.”
- When God speaks, God freely gives. In accepting the gift we enter into communion and say, “Make us an everlasting gift to you.” That is love.
- God imposes norms. We shape our life according to that model. That involves our entire life.
This is the ultimate goal of listening: hearing becomes obedience, total submission to the Word. We must be ready to stake our life on the Word of God.
Mariano Magrassi
Praying the Bible, pp 84-85.
Love’s morning obedience is listening.