A Listening Heart

The river this morning was as restless as my own heart...

I receive the same message twice - in different ways...

"Listen to your heart..."

And the implied message:
"Listen to your heart - so that you can listen to Mine..."

Yesterday I received the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School Alumnae Magazine and I got all caught up on reading about old friends and a school I dedicated 12 years of my life to...

I read with great interest an article summarizing a talk that Sr. Mary Berchmans, the former President of Visitation, gave during the Season of Advent on cultivating a listening heart.
Her message was beautiful and I will highlight the six points which she elaborates on...

1. Let's begin by reflecting on Jesus' invitation: "Learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart."

...Our challenge is to live humbly before God and with great gentleness toward our neighbor. Humility before God invites us to acknowledge the gifts with which He has graced us, to thank Him for them and to use them for His greater honor and glory, not for our own self-aggrandizement. Fundamentally it allows God to be God in our lives.

2. A listening heart is a heart that always remains open to God's transforming grace.

The little prayer known as the Direction of Intention helps us to remain open to God's transforming love, his grace.

O my God,
I offer you this day,
I offer you now all the good
that I shall do and I promise
to accept for love of you
all the difficulty which I shall meet.
Help me to conduct myself
during this day
in a manner pleasing to you.

3. A listening hear discerns God's will in the events of life.

4. A listening heart hears God speaking through the people we meet each day.

5. A listening heart enables us to hear the cries of the poor and the disenfranchised.

6. Finally, a listening heart will open itself to truth and goodness on all levels of human life.

A message comes to me twice - the invitation is there - to cultivate more deeply, my listening heart that I may listen to the heart of God...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rumi - "The Lord is in Me" and "Love Said to Me"

I was sent a couple of poems by Rumi recently, and I wish to share them here. May you find inspiration in them for a glorious weekend! The Lord is in Me The Lord is in me, and the Lord is in you, As life is hidden in every seed. So rubble your pride, my friend, And look for Him within you. When I sit in the heart of His world A million suns blaze with light, A burning blue sea spreads across the sky, Life's turmoil falls quiet, All the stains of suffering wash away. Listen to the unstruck bells and drums! Love is here; plunge into its rapture! Rains pour down without water; Rivers are streams of light. How could I ever express How blessed I feel To revel in such vast ecstasy In my own body? This is the music Of soul and soul meeting. Of the forgetting of all grief. This is the music That transcends all coming and going. Love Said to Me I worship the moon. Tell me of the soft glow of a candle light and the sweetness of my moon. Don't talk about sorrow, tell me of that treasure
Read more

Upside Down Siva and Ultimate Freedom

Image
While I was in Denver last month, on Thursday May 7th, the day of the week in which the Guru and teachers are traditionally honored, I was drawn to buy a "murti" (sacred statue) of Siva doing a one-handed handstand. I bought this statue the very morning I was to demo this pose, unbeknowst to me... The murti of Siva is now on my desk in front of me, where it is constantly in my peripheral vision, every time I sit at my computer. It is also to the left of the meditation alcove I built into a closet. I was drawn to this piece from the first moment I laid eyes on it, and so after receiving it in the mail, I wrote to Dr. Manoj Challam, from whom I purchased it, asking him to give me more insight into the meaning of this representation of Siva. A primary focus of the week that Anusara Yoga teachers gathered in Denver was the study of the Siva Sutras with Dr. Paul Muller Ortega, a pre-eminent Siva scholar. I have always been very drawn to Siva , and this particular murti was so
Read more

A Christmas Poem

Last year, I wrote this poem. These were my wishes then, and they are my wishes once again this year, and every year - for you - for me - for all of us! And so, here it is, one more time... This Christmas… Love. Love totally and completely. Love without restraint. Love with total abandon. Forgive. Forgive everything. Forgive every ancient grudge. Forgive the Unforgiveable. Hope. Hope for a better world. Hope for Peace, and an end to strife. Give Hope to all in despair. Dream. Dream the Impossible Dream. Feed your Dream and Give it Life. Make it real. Believe. Believe in the Seen. Believe in the Unseen. Believe in the Power of Miracles. Live. Live fully and Live deeply. Live with Great Passion. Live Each moment, as if your last. Touch. Embrace a loved one. And a lost one. Embrace them again. Hold a hurting hand and heart. Feel. Feel everything. Fee
Read more