A first Pause in Lent 2011 - Are you listening?

Well, of course you're not listening, you're reading! However, that question is the one I've found helpful so far this Lent. I'll write more about that in a moment, after reminding you that there are now a good number of bloggers joining this weekly Pause in the run-up to Easter, and that you can find their names and visit them via the list to your left on my sidebar. Thank you very much to everyone who is joining in and those of you who are visiting - if you'd like to join, just let me know in your comment on this post.

So, I started this week with very little idea of what I might do during Lent, apart from blogging! I had bought a book, called Oh God, Why? from the Bible Reading Fellowship, but wasn't too sure if it was the right choice - it was pretty much a random selection from their Lent books listed on their website.

Things started coming together last Sunday, when Joanne, my father's minister, preached on the subject: 'Are you listening?'. Following the service, Son 1, my dad, and I pieced together these memories of her sermon points:

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Are you listening at all?

Are you listening enough?

Are you listening selectively?

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We think there was one more point, but we couldn't remember it. Son 2, who was clearly there in body but not necessarily in mind or spirit, didn't contribute to this discussion!

So I think that listening to Joanne set me off on being just a bit more receptive to listening to God, and I certainly needed that. Firstly, a passage that I've been given hundreds of times but never really appreciated came to my attention:

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"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is praiseworthy, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

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Paul wrote this in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 4 verse 23.

I have to be honest - I've always found it a slightly irritating verse before, kind of akin to the songs 'Keep on the Sunny Side' and 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' (which at least is ironic). It just seemed to say: 'don't think about what's real or even about what interests you, just think of sweet pretty pointless nothings'. Whilst I knew in my head that this wasn't what it meant, that was the reaction it created in me.

But when it impinged on my consciousness last week (through a novel Elizabethd loaned me - thank you!) it seemed like I should write it down in my Gratitude Journal, and then that evening, when I came rather depressed and worried to write a list of things to say 'Thank You' for, the real meaning (or A real meaning) of that verse came through loud and clear:

'You are worried that your father is still unwell, but instead look at how he is getting better every day of your visit.'

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'You are anxious about how he will cope when you go, but instead look at the physical and moral strength he shows.'

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''You are dwelling on the practical challenges of your visit, but instead look at how the boys are having a wonderful time, full of new memories, with their grandfather.'
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There was, of course, nothing changed in the situation, but I had been dwelling quite single-mindedly on the things that worried me, and completely ignoring the things that were noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. So for me, this verse became not an exhortation to ignore reality and think of fluffy stuff, but a challenge to see what is good in real life.

Last night my Lent book, Oh God, Why?, had the reading where Moses tells his people to 'Choose life'.

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The author of my book commented: 'The message is being given to us on our journey: "Choose life, not death." It seems an unnecessary piece of advice, for what sane person would choose death?

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He then went on to suggest:

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'It is a very useful exercise to take a piece of paper, divide it into two columns, one headed 'Events which bring me to life', and the other 'Events which deaden me', then scribble down whatever comes to mind. Keep the list, and add to it whenever another item occurs to you. If you persist, the list will lengthen, and you may discover that you give more time and attention to the things which deaden than to those which enliven.'

It seems that things are coming together as I make a rather disjointed attempt to listen. I am pretty sure that as I visit the other Pause in Lent bloggers today and tomorrow, I will learn more!
Why not visit other bloggers who are on a spiritual journey via Spiritual Sundays?