Shhhh!

The prelude to listening is . . . hearing. We hear in the background of our lives a bland presence of sounds . . . undifferentiated noise . . . traffic . . . squeaks and chirps of nature . . . human chit chat. But when we stop listening to what we hear . . . then maybe we can we hear what whispers from the interstices . . . the voice of the Other, the beyond, the absence whose presence is so powerful that its absence may be noticed . . . as a call . . . by those who listen.

What did Samuel hear at night? A quiet voice speaking to one who "kept the lamp lit," during a time when the voice of God was heard only seldom in the land. Mayn't that time be ours?

What do we hear when we listen? Can we answer, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening?"

Our celebrant, in L.A., for mass this past Sunday, used three words to capsulize the message in the three readings: Listen (call of Samuel), conditioning (Corinthian's call to purity), and abiding (Jesus' call in John). We need to condition ourselves to listen, for the impure are distracted from listening. And we need to pray, that is, abide in Jesus, to hear his call.

What do you hear in the sounds of everyday life? (From Explosion in the Sky: First Breath After Coma)

Listen to Chopin - Berceuse. (Maybe we need a Lullaby to fall asleep to the noise we otherwise listen to.) Info on Chopin's Berceuse.

Listen to Horowitz play Schubert's Serenade.