Ever had the experience of feeling like God is banging a gong trying to get a message through to you?  A sermon or talk seems to give you advice needed just at that time.  Or a person confides in you their experience and struggles, and, even as you strive to be fully present and attentive, you can’t help but sense as if they are like a mirror, reflecting your own struggles back to you.

A stranger inadvertently says or does something that challenges you, and calls you to question your ways. 

Well, this is my experience.  And lately, it seems God has a lot to say to me.

How do I listen?

I know this is nothing new, but sometimes, a reminder is helpful (especially that it doesn’t have to be “rocket science.”). 

Personally, my first recourse is spontaneous prayer.  St. Therese of Lisieux wrote about her favored method of “prayer from the heart” – speaking to God as one speaks to a friend – real, honest and free. 

So, in these “gong” sounding events, I stop.  In my heart, I ask, “God, what are you trying to tell me?  What do you want me to learn?”  Often, it seems I am being called to consider a new way of thinking and being.  A sage piece of advice is to be pondered (often posted, in bold print!).  An unsettling “mirror reflection experience” calls me to, at a later time, honestly look at my own struggles and how I am faring.  A person who is serene and mindful stops me in my “autopilot mode,” and challenges me to be present to each moment.

This can also be done in a formal examen, before I go to sleep. 

Taking note of God’s messages is one thing, but listening is another.  Yesterday, I heard a woman say, “When I was young, my mother used to say, ‘You hear me, but you don’t heed me.’” 

Yikes.  That sounds like me.  And I know that conversion or growth doesn’t come all at once, but, still…

God, so often I hear you, but I don’t heed you – I don’t listen and learn.

Grant me the grace to listen to your voice, and follow your call.  Amen.