are speaking or not? Is there a prayerful sense of God's presence?
If listening is cultivated as a habit in all aspects of life, the continuity between our daily lives and the occasions of our meetings will grow and develop, each enriching the other.4 God speaks through people, through events, and through the circumstances of our lives. Most especially, God speaks through the community gathered in the spirit of prayerful listening. Groups that nurture the practice of reverent listening in their lives apart as well as in their times together grow closer to one another as they grow closer to God.
Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; Let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.
–Isa. 41:1
THREE
Searching for Questions Before Answers
If one gives answer before hearing,it is folly and shame. –Prov. 18:13
Peter, James, and John were alone on the mountain with Jesus. They had just seen Jesus transfigured, flanked by Moses and Elijah. Not knowing what to say, Peter blurted out, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mk. 9:5). His response to an experience of awe was to call for action, something tangible and doable.
We live in an action-oriented society. Our response to uncertainty or confusion is to begin offering solutions. Like Peter, when exposed to something startling or inexplicable, our reflex is to explain and contain the phenomenon. Often in a meeting, a question or problem is no sooner stated than a barrage of remedies begins–“Have you tried this or that?” “Why don't we do such and such?” “Well, what we need is a system to….” “The way I see this issue is….”
Resting in uncertainty goes against the grain, especially in a business meeting. Groups rush to solutions. They feel the pressure of time. They believe that quick action is expected of them and that it demonstrates efficiency. Fear and anxiety may prompt a group to clamp a lid on difficult questions. To explore an issue may be painful, force a change, or delay action; but it can also be a doorway to greater understanding. It is not that solutions are undesirable; rather, an early solution may shut off a deeper exploration of the question and foreclose the opportunity to listen to God and one another.
A question in and of itself does not necessarily tell us what level of response is appropriate. For example, “Where are we meeting?” may be a simple request for information. On the other hand, it may reflect problems with the meeting place–perhaps it is too distant, someone else's territory, inaccessible or inconvenient for some. If we raise and consider questions carefully, we may detect an unstated need that may be important to address. One person's concern often turns out to be shared by others. Responding to an individual's concern gives people in the group an opportunity to care for one another and build community.
When considered seriously, a question often changes with time and reflection. As the question becomes clear and focused, the answer may reveal itself. It is important to provide opportunity for people first to ask questions that establish the needed information, and then to allow time to raise questions that get beneath the surface, revealing the signs of God's presence in the situation: “…members of a community intent on discernment must be deeply united to Christ, not only to find an answer to their problem, but to ask the right question in the first place.”1 Group meetings are dynamic. Time and uncertainty, often seen as enemies, can become allies in shaping the unknown and in resolving issues–sometimes without our even doing anything explicit to work them out.
To illustrate this last thought: One group was in sharp disagreement on a matter and decided to spend a Saturday morning together in discernment. They did so; and at the end of three hours, people felt agitated, their divisions appeared even stronger, and the situation felt hopeless. Nonetheless, they agreed to continue to pray and to come back together for another
Saturday morning of discernment. On this second Saturday, the tone was entirely different. A powerful sense of God's presence enveloped the meeting. As people listened and spoke with reverence, the group found itself viewing the questions before them in a new way. In the course of the morning they came into clear spiritual consensus, which left them grateful that they had persisted in prayer and waiting–and marveling at the way God works through people who come together with listening hearts.
Moreover, creative exchanges can shift our focus. One day Jesus and his disciples were pestered by a Canaanite woman begging Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus ignored the woman, and the disciples urged him to send her away. Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” She persisted and knelt before him saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” She answered, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” At this, Jesus exclaimed, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Her daughter was healed instantly (Mt. 15:24–28). The willingness of Jesus and the woman to be open to each other released the power that healed the little girl.2
Probing questions engage us in ways that help us to discover things for ourselves so that they become our own and bear authority for us. Answers provided by others seldom carry the same weight. Good questions can open us up to the creative flow of the Spirit. Well-framed questions can draw the entire group into a search for truth that enables its members to develop fuller insight together. Then answers and actions may follow more serviceably.
“Hear and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.” I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you….
–Job 42:4–6
FOUR
Engaging the Imagination
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal…. –Rev. 22:1a
He was an artistic man–creative, with significant professional accomplishment. But his troubled life moved from crisis to crisis. He often cried out for help. Over the years, a number of people from the local church community went to great lengths to help him out. Without fail, he would push them beyond their limits, demanding more than they could give. Eventually the inevitable breach would fracture another relationship.
A woman from the congregation was in a deep silence, holding this man in prayer, when a vivid picture flooded her imagination: an enormous thistle, glorious with purple bloom, appeared in the window. It was so real that she checked to see if it was physically there. Through this unanticipated image, God provided insight that could be shared with those concerned. A blossoming thistle is a plant of beauty. Butterflies–symbolic of the Resurrection–feed on the nectar of its flower. Yet beware of getting too close! Thistles do not allow people to touch them. This mental picture helped the people involved realize that they could not touch this man's life directly as they had been trying. But perhaps they could touch him in some other way by recognizing his inner beauty and the potential of his work.
