Lent 2007 : The Spiritual Sense of Hearing
A sermon preached by Fr Michael Fuller
What do we mean when we say we believe in a God who speaks? How do we ‘listen to our hearts’? Hearing is the sense that perhaps vexes us least in relation to God. “Tasting God” might be difficult for us reflect upon, but men and women have been testifying to the voice of the Spirit of God for many centuries and our imaginations are not tested too much by the idea.
Silence is a necessary part of hearing in any communication. In order to hear, one has to stop seeing the parts of conversation where we are not talking as moments to think about constructing your reply. Silence can allow us to hear better, if we choose to participate in it. We should not fear silence generally, as learning to be silent allows us to listen more carefully. Yet, where the silence of God is concerning, it can a paralysing experience. It can be especially discomforting if we pray and do not feel as though we have had a response from the One to whom we address our petitions.
If understanding silence can aid our listening with one another, can it also help developing our spiritual sense of hearing and discerning in prayer? If we understand silence as a necessary part of speech (pauses, breaths, changes in tone, etc), then can we also understand our experience of God’s silence as not an absence of divine speech but a necessary part of divine communication, a rhythm in speech itself?
“Prayer is time set aside in which we seek to become familiar with the rhythm of words that flow to the beat of eternity.” (Augustine)
Further Reading
- Read Luke 4:16-30: if the ear senses when the eyes do not, can we think of the ear as an organ of reception and also an organ of involved in the conception of faith?
- Jonathan Ree, I See a Voice: deafness, language and the senses – a philosophical history
- Bruce Waltke, Finding the Will of God: a pagan notion?
Fr Michael Fuller : 20th March 2007