Making Space for Listening

As a pastor, I spend a lot of time listening to people. I hear stories about fears, doubts, health concerns, frustrations, and conflicts. I work hard to be attentive to each person who confides in me, because so often holy conversations can be healing and enlightening.

But I will confess there are times when my attention gets diverted, like a puppy chasing a ball. I lose focus, and I get distracted by related thoughts or background issues. My mind is too busy to concentrate.

I find there is a great value in silence, for creating space in my listening heart. When I practice silent prayer, it allows me to clear out the accumulations of my mind. It's almost like clearing my desk before I begin to work . . . to make space for a new task.

If you would like to improve your ability to listen to other people with empathy and attentiveness, I recommend you practice at least 20 minutes of silent prayer each day. We need to make space for listening, and empty our "self" to make room for the sacred stories of others. That space allows the Spirit to move.

Four Pathways to God's Love

Just about every Sunday, I will hear from someone that they didn't like a certain element of worship. And a few minutes later, someone else will come to me and tell me how meaningful that same element of worship was to them.

We have different ways of experiencing God's love.

Those who are FEELING PEOPLE experience God's love through beauty and devotion. They are attracted to a personal, intimate sense of divine reality. They find God in praise, thanksgiving, the arts and nature.

Those ACTIVISTS among us find God's love in what is good. They pursue moral concerns, seek the good of their neighbors, establish shalom in the world, and experience God through justice seeking and community building.

Those who are INTELLECTUAL value knowledge. They experience God most deeply through the pursuit of wisdom, and disciplined thinking.

Those who are ICONOCLASTIC will approach God kicking and screaming all the way. Theologian Paul Tillich described this spiritual pathway as "faith forged in the crucible of my doubt." They are skeptics and cynics.

All pathways will lead to God. Each one can be a way home. In every church, all four paths must be open. For most of us, one path is dominant.

And now you know why we don't all appreciate the same things in worship. There are four pathways to God's love. Once you find yours, I invite you to use it often!

Another 10th Anniversary

On Sept. 11th, there were news stories, services of remembrance, and moments of silence wherever we turned. We all took time to recall the 10th anniversay of Sept. 11, 2011.

Our country marks another 10th anniversary this week, to little or no fanfare. On Oct. 7, 2011, it will be 10 years since we started the war in Afghanistan. Strange that our nation's longest war gets so little attention.

World War I lasted four years.
World War II lasted six years.
The War in Afghanistan has lasted ten years, and it is not over yet.

Two thousand American soldiers have lost their lives.
Tens of thousands of Afghan people have died.
Our country has spent $445 trillion on this war.

This is a time for mourning. This is a time for repentance.

This is a time to pray for peace.

This is a time to remember the words of the prophet Isaiah:
Yahweh shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
(Isaiah 2:4)

Act for peace. There will be a peace demonstration at noon on Saturday, Oct. 8, at Congress Parkway and Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Bring a flag. Witness for peace and an end to this war. Remember the price we have paid, as we remembered those who lost their lives on 9/11. This sacrifice is even greater.

A group from Oak Park will meet at the Oak Park El station at 11:00 am and travel together.

In the name of the Prince of Peace, Shalom and Salaam.