BENEDICT OF NURSIA: LISTENING WITH THE HEART
The sixth century monk, Benedict of Nursia, started a community for believers who wanted to seek and serve God through the daily practical habits of work, prayer, rest, and spiritual learning. One key rule that Benedict had for new community members was to try to listen for God in a deeper and perhaps more challenging way than they had before.
Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you: welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice” (The Rule of Saint Benedict). Benedict believed that in order to serve God faithfully, Christians had to listen with their hearts as well as with their ears.
Usually, we are advised to listen to our heart, to live in ways that ring true with whatever we feel in our heart, to do whatever our heart tells us. Yes, we should pay attention to how we feel, but more important than what our heart feels is what God speaks into our hearts and our lives. The Bible tells us that our hearts are deceptive (Ephesians 4:17–24). Often we imagine that our heart can tell us what is best for us, but God tells us what is best for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves Sometimes, the things our heart desires can turn our focus away from God’s call to love and respect creation and ourselves, people made in God’s image. What would it mean if instead of listening to our heart, we listened with our heart?
Hearing and acting on what we hear are completely different experiences. When Benedict encouraged his community to listen for God, he was also calling them to live lives of obedience. Did you know that the word obey comes in part from the Latin word meaning “to hear?” When we obey God, we are not simply hearing; we are listening and acting on what we have heard.
Lectio Divina TS 97648012 300x199 BENEDICT OF NURSIA: LISTENING WITH THE HEART
How do we listen with our heart? It takes practice, but the basic steps are to read scripture, to find times when we can be quiet in God’s presence, and to learn to pay better attention to the world around us. God is always speaking into our lives.
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4 Strawbridge Student Ministry
is what God speaks into our hearts and our lives. The Bible tells us that our hearts are deceptive (Ephesians 4:17–24). Often we imagine that our heart can tell us what is best for us, but God tells us what is best for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves Sometimes, the things our heart desires can turn our focus away from God’s call to love and respect creation and ourselves, people made in God’s image. What would it mean if instead of listening to our heart, we listened with our heart?
Hearing and acting on what we hear are completely different experiences. When Benedict encouraged his community to listen for God, he was also calling them to live lives of obedience. Did you know that the word obey comes in part from the Latin word meaning “to hear?” When we obey God, we are not simply hearing; we are listening and acting on what we have heard.
How do we listen with our heart? It takes practice, but the basic steps are to read scripture, to find times when we can be quiet in God’s presence, and to learn to pay better attention to the world around us. God is always speaking into our lives.