Sunday, February 25, 2018

Second week of lent - Give up you narcissistic preoccupations and listen

How are you doing with your Lenten resolutions? How's it going with your desire to leave the path of the ego and journey on the path of the spirit?

Jesus left the path of the ego for 40 days in the desert to spend more time communing with the Divine. I hope you are doing better than I am. I start my days with the Divine and end my days with the Divine but in the middle I forget. Sometimes I remember, especially when I have to make a decision about something hard like what to say to a person in anguish.

Actually, leaning in to be there for a person in anguish is easier for me than to just pay attention to someone who wants my attention for some matter than is important to them, but means very little or nothing to me.

At such times, I hear Jesus whisper in my ear, "What would Love have you do?" and with this prompt I pay attention to my brother or sister even when it takes effort.

Lent is about giving something up. Lent is about eschewing the path of the ego so we can continue our journey on the path of the spirit. So, in such moments, when other people want my attention, I give up my own preoccupations and concerns and desires and just listen.

Listening takes discipline. It takes self control. It often is not an easy thing to do. To give another person or a group of people your undivided attention is a precious gift.

Jesus said, where two or more our gathered in my name, there I will be.

I have recently learned that my body is NOT the temple of the Holy Spirit, but my relationships with others. The Holy Spirit is in the relationships which I enter into with others, not within the boundaries of my physical body. With this new found awareness, I understand better what Jesus was saying about His being there when two or more are gathered in His name.

So this Lent I am learning how to give up my narcissism and to deeply listen to others no matter how trivial their concerns seem to me to be. This practice while difficult has given me an increased sense of peace and well being.

1 comment:

  1. Listening is indeed a precious gift. We would have a better world if it happened more frequently.

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