“The Voices We Hear”
“The flute of interior time is played whether we hear it or not” —Kabir
SCRIPTURE
Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” —1 Samuel 3:10
(read 1 Samuel 3:1-11 for context)
DEVOTIONAL
We meet young Samuel in a pretty dark world. The leaders were a disgrace, aggressive armies threatened the borders, confidence in the social structure was undermined, institutions were not trusted. Three times, Samuel heard a voice in the darkness and did what any temple lacky would do. He went to Eli, his blind mentor, to follow whatever he was told. Eli told him to go back to bed. Who can blame him? While the lamp of God had not gone out, it was close. It was probably easier to just pull the sheets over his head and try to get some sleep.
I think about young Samuel and all the voices he must have heard in the dark when “the word of the Lord was rare.” I think about those same voices today; the ones telling us that success is about “having more,” that “you should only look out for #1,” that “technology will answer all of our problems,” that “the powerful can lie, steal and cheat.” The voices that tell us not that “happiness is the fountain of youth” but that “youth is the fountain of happiness.” When the lamp of God is dim, it is easy just to follow what we’re told and try to get some sleep.
Anytime the Bible describes something happening three times it means that it deserves our attention. Even blind Eli could see that. So on Samuel’s third try, Eli instructed the boy not to continue to blindly obey, but to listen. He told him not to respond with “Here I am” (which is a variation on the phrase, “I’m coming”) but rather, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” It was a dangerous prayer of hope that this rare voice may have something new to offer the world. So, Samuel listened and as he grew, “the Lord was with him.”
- Lent is the formation of attention. What does it mean to “listen?”
- What do you need to set aside to listen? What voices are the most powerful in your life? Who do they tell you to be?
- In his book, “Following Jesus,” Henri Nouwen suggests that to respond to God’s calling, we have to listen (p.14). How do you listen for God’s voice?
We begin this Lenten journey with a prayer by Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton,
PRAYER
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Amen.
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.