Attuned

We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God.
Psalm 48:8

It comes to me in a slow movement of grace, and I realize I have been waiting for it. If not with held breath, then with suspended expectation. It has been a week since the invitation came to me to listen. At first, I thought it would be within that day that I would encounter the holy in some intentional act of hearing. And as the day passed, and the next, I was still wondering what God was calling me to hear.

And then it dawned on me (can hearing dawn?). For the last four days I have been sitting in a committee as people have come to testify about how God is working powerfully in their lives, how they yearn to be heard, how they are asking our church to support them with powerful acts of love. The speakers do not know us; nevertheless, they come and lay their hearts and lives before us.

We call these meetings hearings. I am moved and astounded and surprised by the people who come to be heard. I listen. I hear. I attend with my heart. And through myriad beautiful, vulnerable, bold, articulate, gentle, and daring stories, I am invited into relationship with astonishing people. A hearing. A holy listening. A heeding, a hearkening, a beloved encounter.

Each day, I leave the room transformed by voices and lives that expand my heart. Hallowed offerings. And with joy I pray as my friend Lester has called me to, that my “ears and eyes may be attuned to love.”


Lester V. Mackenzie is the chaplain to the House of Deputies at the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
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Just listen

They refused the pleasant land
and would not believe God’s promise.
They grumbled in their tents
and would not listen to the voice of the Lord.
Psalm 106:24-25

My morning prayer time seems somewhat tame, mundane. Which strikes me as a bit off, as I am about to set off on an important journey. Surely God has something profound to say to me this morning.

Sometimes my daily practice is like that. A routine, but not one that breaks open my heart. But this is what it means to be a practicing Christian: practice. The discipline builds spiritual muscles, endurance, flexibility. I keep at it. The day-to-day ritual takes the temperature of my relationship with God. Somedays I am on fire with the love of Jesus, and some days I feel left out in the cold, and some days I am lukewarm. But for the love of God I do not stop praying.

And today, as I send a perfunctory “open me to you will for me today” line to Jesus, a response comes back. Be more specific.

And my prayer changes. I move from, “What are you calling me to do” to “What are you calling me to hear?” Today, my walk will be in holy listening. I hold still for a moment and smile. I know there will be a lot to hear today.



Image credit: zsirosistvan / 123RF Stock Photo