"Many
times have I regretted what I have spoken, but I have never regretted
being silent." - Saint Arsenius the Great
"God
gave us two ears and one mouth, so we can listen more and speak
less" - HH Pope Shenouda III
How many of
us have attended a seminar or a lecture and the professor or speaker
spoke for two hours and at the end we benefited nothing. Or how
many times did we hear a sermon that lasted for 15-20 minutes and
the words completely changed our lives? And thus, it is not the
amount of words spoken, but the quality of words. We should learn
to speak less and to listen more, and this can be applied in three
aspects of our lives: with others, with God, and with ourselves.
WITH OTHERS:
Have you ever
engaged in a conversation where the person would speak in vain for
hours about nothing and you would nod your head and smile gently?
If this made us feel uncomfortable, let us think about how many
times we did this to someone else. How many times do we continuously
speak and when the listener tries to put in his two cents, we ignore
him entirely? Sometimes if we remain silent and listen to what others
are conveying to us, we can benefit greatly. Also, God may be sending
us a message through others. We observe this with Noah and the wicked
people of his time. He warned the people that they would perish
once the rain came, but the people laughed at Noah and did not take
his words seriously. If the people had listened to Noah's warning,
they would have been able to repent and be saved, but they chose
to continue in their wickedness and sin.
We also read
about David the prophet and how he listened to Nathan's rebuke and
David realized that Nathan was coming from God urging him to repent,
and David repented saying "I have sinned against the Lord" (2 Samuel
12:13). We learn that if we cease to "listen to instruction, we
will stray from the words of knowledge" (Proverbs 19:27).
LISTENING
TO GOD:
By listening
to others, we may be indirectly listening to God for He sometimes
speaks to us through the words of others. Also, by listening to
a priest's sermon or instructions on how to repent can be very beneficial
to our spiritual life and with our relationship with God. By partaking
and REALLY LISTENING to the Divine Liturgy, we would never
become bored or complain about how long the service is because we
would become absorbed in the prayers, and thus become one with God.
The ample opportunity to listen to God is not only during the Divine
Liturgy, but in our prayers. If we want to know God's Will in our
life, we need to keep silent and listen. In His Grace Bishop Youssef's
booklet "How to Pray", His Grace says "give God a chance to respond
to you after you finish your prayer by standing still for two or
three minutes in complete silence. The church fathers advise us
'silence your tongue and your heart will speak, silence your heart
and God will speak.'" One prime example of someone who listened
to God is St. Paul. St. Paul believed he was doing a favor for God
by persecuting the Christians, but after Our Lord appeared to him,
St. Paul changed his life completely and became one of the greatest
teachers of our time.
LISTENING
TO OURSELVES:
And finally
we need to listen to ourselves and to the Holy Spirit, who is working
through us. Sometimes when we attend a social gathering, and we
see inappropriate events (e.g. drinking, smoking, etc.), do we listen
to our Holy Spirit that tells us "save yourself and escape from
this place." Do we heed the Holy Spirit and quickly leave the place
of sin? Joseph the Righteous teaches us a powerful lesson of how
he listened to himself. When Joseph became tempted by Potiphar's
wife, he said "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against
God?" and he quickly fled from this temptation (Genesis 39). Joseph's
senses were alert, and he immediately listened to himself escaping
before committing any sins. We should be attentive in our environment
and if we sense any evil, we should escape. Also, the Holy Spirit,
speaks to us and sometimes urges us to repent. When we hear Him,
do we turn Him away or we do we listen to Him with gladness and
obey with joy?
SAINT ANTHONY
THE GREAT:
The prime example
that shows listening to others, to God, and to ourselves simultaneously
is observed in St. Anthony the Great, who by far is one of the greatest
fathers that ever lived. St. Anthony had thoughts of leaving this
vain world [listening to himself], and thus when he entered the
church, heard the deacon [listening to others] reading the Gospel
saying "If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow
Me." (Matthew 19:21). St. Anthony attentively listened in church
and he believed these words were directed to him from God [listening
to God] confirming his decision to leave the world.
As we are celebrating
the Holy Resurrection and the Joyous Forty Days, we pray to our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that He helps us become better listeners
to His word and to the Holy Spirit, and not only listeners, but
doers of the Word.
