Absurdity vs Obedience - being "All Ears" - Henri Nouwen

Listening and Standing - Thoughts from Henri Nouwen

"From all that I said about our worried, overfilled lives, it is clear that we are usually surrounded by so much outer noise that it is hard to truly hear God when he is speaking to us.

"We have often become deaf, unable to know when God calls us and unable to understand in which direction he calls us.

"Thus our lives have become absurd. In the word absurd we find the Latin word surdus, which means 'deaf.'

"A spiritual life requires discipline because we need to learn to listen to God, who constantly speaks but whom we seldom hear.

"When however, we learn to listen, our lives become obedient lives. The word obedient comes from the Latin word audire, which means 'listening.'

"A spiritual discipline is necessary in order to move slowly from an absurd to an obedient life, from a life filled with noisy worries to a life in which there is some free inner space where we can listen to our God and follow his guidance.

"Jesus' life was a life of obedience. He was always listening to the Father, always attentive to his voice, always alert for his directions. Jesus was "all ear." That is true prayer: being all ear for God.

"The core of all prayer is indeed listening, obediently standing in the presence of God."

This is from an article by Henri M. Nouwen titled Bringing Solitude into Our Lives.



I am trying to do this - finding an inner space that I can "clear out" all the distractions and listen for God's voice. Just as I was typing the last sentence: "The core of all prayer is indeed listening, obediently standing in the presence of God," I began to wonder about the wording. Standing didn't seem right. We are kneeling, right? Or sitting, but not standing.

Then I realized why, I think, he used standing. Because if we are obedient we need to be standing, ready to act. An obedient servant does not come into the presence of his boss and sit down...he remains standing, ready to act! To run that errand. To write that note. To make that call. A real servant is standing, ready to move immediately in obedience to the master's direction!