Ministry of listening

Many people feel alone or disconnected because no one is there to listen to them. An important ministry in any community is that of listening. Louis Cassels once wrote: ‘When a person confides in you, he usually doesn’t want advice. He wants somebody to understand and care about his troubles. When you can’t do anything, as when a person is grieving over the death of a loved one, listening requires a willingness to suffer silently with the grieving friend, accepting not only the reality but also the insolubility of his problem.’ The art of listening is a gift you can give, no matter who you are. And you can give it to anyone. It doesn’t cost a cent. Yet, to a person who needs a listener, it’s a gift beyond price. Each of us can start today, wherever we find ourselves, to learn to listen.
Teach me to listen, Lord, to those nearest me, my family, my friends, my co-workers. Help me to be aware that no matter what words I hear, the message is ‘Accept the person I am. Listen to me.’
Teach me to listen, Lord, to those far from me – the whisper of the hopeless, the plea of the forgotten, the cry of the anguished.
Teach me to listen, Lord, to myself. Help me to be less afraid to trust the voice inside – in the deepest part of me.
Teach me to listen, Lord, for Your voice – in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and in doubt, in noise and in silence. Amen.