The Voice of God

Tags

Eli, Here I am Lord, listening, Samuel, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice of God

One of the most commonly recognized stories in the Hebrew Scriptures appears as today’s first lectionary reading. (1SM 3) It’s the story of the boy Samuel in his first days in the temple when “he was not yet familiar with the Lord.” It could actually be presented as a comedy in a religion class with Samuel getting out of bed and running to Eli saying, “You called me!” and Eli responding: “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed!” By the third time this happens, Eli the prophet catches on that God is calling the boy, so he instructs Samuel to answer, saying,”Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Many of us long for such a clear message from God, and to be able to recognize it when it comes. Some of us have wise people who help us interpret messages when we don’t recognize the voice of God. To be fair, we can’t always count on such a “direct address” as we find in today’s reading. How have you heard God speaking in your life? Do you allow at least a modicum of silence in your days so that you might hear a message? Are you open to new ways of hearing, new sources of wisdom? Have you any prompts in your environment? A candle perhaps, or music? Or perhaps an icon, a favorite picture of Jesus? There are many ways of preparation to hear the voice of God. And always, an open heart can echo this morning’s responsorial psalm, saying: “Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will!” If you put yourself in the place of most opportunity (openness) and make it a habit to call to God, you might be surprised someday to hear God’s voice in answer!

God Calling

Tags

Ancient Songs Sung Anew, calling, Eli, God, Here I am Lord, law of life, name, Psalm 40, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of my friends calls me Valerie. Urban legend has it that my mother wanted that to be my name but that she was convinced otherwise. It was probably the same dramatic flair in her that desired to call my sister “Heather Angel” which I’m told was the name of an actress back in the day. I smile now when that image of my mother bubbles up. She had her own delightful story of being named Mary Frances but always being called May. Her birthday was May first and the story goes that she was put in a May basket when she was born. I don’t really know what that means specifically (and never asked!) but I envision ribbons and flowers surrounding her sweet self as she greeted the world.

All this palaver about names derives from Samuel’s confusion about who was calling him out of sleep in the first reading from today’s lectionary. (1 SM 15:16-23) He thought it was his mentor, Eli, when it was really a deeper, inner call that he was hearing. Still a small boy, he didn’t yet understand the call of God in his life but was obedient to the directive of Eli who finally got the message of what was happening. So little Samuel began to respond when he heard his name – most likely before he had any idea of the meaning for his life – with the unconditional declarative statement: Here I am, Lord!

We are called by name in formal and informal ways during our lives. When in a situation of a roll-call vote, there is a sense of weightiness, of “putting your life on the line” for what you believe and are willing to stand up for. Additionally, when someone uses my name in a sentence (as in: “Can you see, Lois, the importance of this issue?”) I tend to wake up a bit more to what they’re asking. Thus, living into our names means living into truth and to deep listening for God’s word in our lives. Psalm 40 says it clearly to me today in the following translation.

For even in the scroll of Torah, the book you wrote, it is said that I should simply do your will. That is it, your whole desire, which has now become my soul’s delight. So from my heart I keep your ways, your law of life. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p. 99)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Delight

Tags

attitude, delight, do your will, God's will, Here I am Lord, Psalm 40, purpose, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Sometimes life depends a lot on attitude. Often when “bad things” happen people are heard to say, “It’s God’s will.” Rarely have I heard anyone proclaim that it is God’s will when they are steeped in unbounded joy. To be fair, we tend to use other ways to express God’s presence in our lives at those times, saying things like “God has been good to me.” I wonder, though, if it would make a difference, even slightly, if we sang with the psalmist, “To do your will, O my God, is my delight and your law is in my heart!” (Ps. 40) And what if we woke up every morning with today’s psalm refrain on our lips: “Here I am Lord; I come to do your will.” For me, that line has a feeling of happy urgency, as if I am running toward God because I can’t wait to serve whatever purpose it is God is asking because it gives me such joy. I might even make a sign for the inside of my bedroom door with that line printed on it so it accompanies me each morning to the coffee pot. Can’t hurt – might help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I Am!

Tags

Eli, Here I am Lord, monasticism, prayer, Psalm 40, Samuel, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It was always a great feeling in a game of hide-and-seek to get to the point where the seeker gave up and called us in because we had been so successful in hiding. “Here I am!” in that case was a triumphant exclamation – rare in our neighborhood of expert searchers who knew all the best places to hide.

“Here I am!” in the Scriptures first appears as response of a child (Samuel) to what he thought was a call from his teacher (Eli) but really was God calling. The response appears again today but with an “add-on” as the refrain from Psalm 40 where we hear the psalmist proclaim: Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. Neither Samuel nor the psalmist is hiding. They are both presenting themselves – quite eagerly it seems – for whatever task they are called to perform.

Today our Church celebrates the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a monastic who accomplished great things both for monasticism and in the world of his time (the 12th century). After a recounting of his many achievements in a short biography there is a telling sentence that reads, “Yet …he still retained a burning desire to return to the hidden monastic life of his younger days.” I found that not only admirable but instructive. His dedication to prayer in the midst of all that he was doing in God’s service was most likely the only reason that he knew what to do in any case.

So it is with us. If we have been hiding, it might be time to show ourselves and be “caught” for God’s purpose. If we have been willing, perhaps we need deeper listening in the silence to discern what to do or who to be. If we are already solidly placed in God’s service, today is a day to sing with the psalmist, To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart! (PS 40:9)

Delighted!

Tags

aligning our will to God's, automatic, delight, delightful, Here I am Lord, Psalm 40, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The Psalm refrain (PS 40) for this morning is a familiar one to me. After 48 years of presenting myself saying, “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will” it sometimes becomes an automatic statement. Therein lies the danger. That is not a statement to be taken lightly and I was reminded – rather jarred a bit out of the complacency of it – by another line that was a partial repetition but shifts the mood quite a bit. “To do your will, O my God,” the psalmist sings, “is my delight!” There are mornings (probably for all of us) when nothing feels delightful even if everything seems necessary. Those are the days when aligning ourselves – our will – to God’s is only possible by conscious attention. No casual repetition will do. What is necessary is the remembrance of the God who delights in so many ways. It may take a little silence, a digging deeper into gratitude, or perhaps hitting the snooze button on the alarm in order to get there. But the reward is sometimes surprising and delightful!

Are You Listening?

Tags

agency, Andrew, Eli, Here I am Lord, John the Baptist, Lamb of God, looking, Peter, Psalm 40, readiness, Samuel, Simon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Although the readings in the early days of this new year often center around the theme of call, there is a fair amount of diversity in the specifics – and, on Sundays, emphasis from the Hebrew Scriptures as well. This morning we read one of my favorite texts from the First Book of Samuel (1 SAM 3) which could be performed as a short comedy sketch. Samuel is a child living in the temple under the tutelage of Eli when he hears God call his name in the night. This being his first such experience he thinks Eli is calling so he runs to him and says, “Here I am. You called me.” Eli, probably a bit groggy from sleep, says to him, “I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.” This happens again, not once but twice and it is only the third time that Eli realizes that it is God calling Samuel.  He then directs Samuel that when he hears God calling he is to say, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

The move from Samuel to the Gospel of John is punctuated by Psalm 40 which fairly shouts: I have waited, waited for the Lord and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. He put a new song in my mouth! Then we see John the Baptist standing – as if waiting – with two of his disciples as Jesus walks by. He is recorded as saying, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Immediately the disciples leave John and follow Jesus. John does nothing to stop them as he knows that his role is herald. When Jesus turns around and sees them he asks, “What are you looking for?” They counter with the question: “Where are you staying?” “Come and you will see,” he says and, amazingly, they do. One is Andrew who goes and tells his brother, Simon, of the experience and brings him to Jesus as well.

Setting these scenes in such detail might seem a bit much but I think necessary to illustrate two things about call: readiness and agency. How ready are we at any moment to respond to God’s call in whatever form it comes to us? Secondly, are we willing to hear messages from others that may move us to such a response? Eli, John the Baptist, Jesus himself and then Andrew were instrumental in the movement of Samuel, Andrew and Peter toward God. Today seems a good day to reflect on our own readiness and then to thank God for those in our lives who have been catalysts on our path to “Here I am, Lord!”