The Absurdity of Listening

The word "absurd" is from the word "sardus" which means "deaf".

The word obedience is from the word "audire" which means "listening"

Living an absurd life is a way of life in which we remain deaf to the voice that speaks to us. We are living lives full of activities and events that make us wonder if we can really get them all done. We become "busy but bored, involved yet lonely" and we struggle to hear God's voice.

Obedient living is one of listening intentionally. We have to listen with careful attention to the Spirit within and among us. Obedient living is one in which we are attentive to the presence of God. It is one with ears to hear.

This kind of living requires a couple things. 

1. Empty Spaces
We have hard times creating any empty spaces in our lives. We are afraid of empty space. We are obsessed with being productive, useful, effective, and in control. Empty space is scary.

2. A willingness to hear God's voice
Many of us, if we are honest, are afraid of listening to God's voice because we are afraid of what he might say. We aren't sure we want to go in whatever direction he sends us. So we would rather be preoccupied and distracted, because we don't actually have to come face to face with Truth.

Listening with obedience to the voice of God requires a resistance against these fears of empty spaces and God's actual voice.

Where is God active in my life or community right now?

"The problem, however, is not how to make the spiritual life happen, but to see where it is actually happening." (Henri Nouwen)

There is a story of a young boy sitting while an artist carved something into a large slab of marble. The boy saw nothing but large chunks falling away. He saw nothing until he returned a couple weeks later to see an enormous marble lion. They boy could not contain his excitement when he asked the artist, "Sir, how did you know there was a lion in the marble?"

The truth is God is at work in your life now, chipping away pieces, because he sees a lion inside. We have to recognize where God is chipping away and at work. Slowly we see more and more of what God is up to and we allow him to guide us more and more freely.