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Always Listening |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 11/14/2007 12:29 PM | | Greetings on this beautiful day! (And it may rain today!)This noon I attended a monthly meeting of the Atlanta area Disciples of Christ ministers. Being so close to the assembly, and having had a chance to talk with most everyone there just this past weekend, I almost decided not to go. I have lots to do, meetings this evening…you know the drill. But, I decided that I should. These meetings are great chances to catch up with colleagues in a low key atmosphere, hear a though provoking program and have a good lunch. So I went.The presenter this week was Phil Foster a minister and psychotherapist in Decatur. He was presenting a program on Rumi, a mystic poet of the 13th century who came from a Sufi Islamic tradition. Now, poetry is not usually my bag. But as Phil talked about Rumi’s journey, about mysticism in general and then read some poems I found myself really pulled in, my imagination whirring. I was especially taken with a poem in which Rumi was talking about living in the world. At one point he wrote, “Allow yourself to be a disgrace,” which I took to mean, don’t care what others think, do what you are called to do. But the line that really got me was this: “The world is full of chaos and noise. Become the noise, but live in silence.”I’m not sure why, but that hit me hard as to how we live in 21st century America. The world absolutely pulsates around us with an ever increasing, always relentless beat. It is sometimes hard to hear ourselves think, yet this is the world we live in, so to ignore it, to try to shut out the noise would be pointless and to our detriment. So, rather, he seemed to be saying to me, be part of the world, understand it’s noise, accept that it is the way it is. But, the warning comes: do not add to the noise. Do not let it overwhelm you. How do we do that? I’m not entirely sure, but it must have something to do with keeping your own counsel, charting your own path, listening for God’s voice to move you. But then again, maybe it means something completely different to you. But it doesn’t matter.What really matters is that we not give in to our urge to stay so focused on what we “should” do that we miss something new and beautiful and thought provoking and life sustaining and simple, like listening to the words of a mystic poet. For who knows how God might speak to us?Be peaceful,Brad | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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