Word of the Week: Listen

Sometimes I have so many thoughts bouncing through my head that it really takes an effort to just be quiet and listen. Being quiet is one thing; intentional listening is another. And yet I'm finding out that, far from being a state of passivity, active listening involves some questions. Sometimes in response to the stirrings in my heart, it does good to ask "God, what are you trying to teach me? What are you wanting me to do?"

I notice I tend to block out negative feelings and even beat myself up for what I'm thinking or feeling. They are, after all, negative . . . and we've been (or at least I've been) conditioned to think "rejoice in the Lord always . . . " - stuff the feelings and move on. Instead I've been trying to just listen to what's going on in my heart. Why am I frustrated? What's my deep longing here? What would God have me do? And what would that be like? I'm learning to:

• Listen to discern
• Listen patiently
• Listen and obey
  

I notice when I do stop to listen, God doesn't blow me off - imagine that! He's totally okay with me bringing even the negative parts of myself to him. Sometimes it takes another person to help in this listening process, and I'm thankful for people in my life who do that. And I notice the more I listen to my own life, the more I'm learning to listen attentively to those around me.

God is already listening . . . why don't we join him?

A helpful resource for me has been a book I reviewed previously, entitled Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your Life, by Keri Wyatt Kent. I highly recommend this book!

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. James Thurber

"Eat Mor Chikin"

Chick-Fil-A is pretty smart, enlisting the help of the poor maligned cow himself to encourage us to "eat more chikin!" I realize, it's simply a marketing strategy but you gotta admit, it's a pretty clever one. It's one I wish politicians would use, rather than resorting to negative campaigning. (Is it possible cows are smarter than most politicians?)

Last year, I decided to make some major changes in my eating habits. I reached a turning point when I stopped worrying about what not to eat and began focusing on the good stuff. When I feel myself getting off track, I don't think about what I need to cut out. I refocus on how to get more good into my diet. When's the last time I had a fresh salad? An apple? Perhaps a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast beats chocolate cinnamon bread or a Krispy Kreme donut for breakfast. And those ccaaafffeeeiine jitters? Obviously I need to drink a little more water (okay, make that a lot more water). The more I intentionally plan to eat right, the easier it becomes and the more good foods become the mainstay of my diet.

In the same way, I am finding the “eat more chikin” principle true in the spiritual arena. A lot of the Christian life tends to be focused on "negative campaigning," so to speak. Make no mistake, there are things we need to turn away from or "put off," as Paul encourages us to do. And we're called to abstain from food (fasting) and work (resting) at times. But the focus is not what we turn from but rather what we're turning to.

Maybe it's oversimplification, but it seems the more I spend my time filling myself up with good things, in the physical and emotional realms, as well as the spiritual realm, the less room there is for those things that drag me down. The challenge is prayerfully and intentionally making those good things a regular fixture in my life.

I Got Nothing

Lots of thoughts; nothing coming together yet. But that's okay, because my sweet friend Katrina has a wonderful post about outriggers and canoes . . . well, just trust me and go read it, okay?