"They say that spirits make music
by moving through the breaks
in what is living.
If so, the work of love
is to hold each other and listen."
from the The Exquisite Risk by Mark Nepo
Simply and profoundly, the work listening
is simply to listen, the work of love is simply to love. When he was finished eating dinner last night, but the rest
of us had not, our youngest child got up from his chair and made his way unto my lap and relaxed, content and at peace.
Somewhere, in some book, I remember a line
about spirituality:
"God is a lap."
Listening challenges us to set aside the ego and its relentless need for center stage so that we allow ourselves
to fully become a lap--toopen our hearts and minds to others.
Listening seems to be getting harder all the time. We have to actively challenge the dictates of our culture to cut
through all the external distractions of noise pollution, cell phones, MP3 players and many more gadgets I don't even know
what they are called or what they are for.
There is also the problem of our seemingly incessant internal noise: critical judgments, self-conscious comments,
and the playing and re-playing of old tapes (or are they now old CDs?). The main reason we are so bad at listening these days,
I think, is because the internal noise levels are so high. Only bits and pieces of what others are saying seems to be
getting through.
Meditation is the best way to cut through the internal and external noise so we can really become a lap. One great
way to apply the skills of meditation in our day to day life is to work on becoming a lap, to really listen. As Rumi
put it:
"Make everything in you an ear, each
atom of your being, and you will hear at every moment what the Source is whispering to you, just to you and for you, without
any need for my words or anyone else's. You are — we all are — the beloved of the Beloved, and in every moment,
in every event of you life, the Beloved is whispering to you exactly what you need to hear and know. Who can ever explain
this miracle? It simply is. Listen and you will discover it every passing moment."
