Listening

There is one line of a carol that always seems to shout out to me each year.  It is found in the third verse of It came upon a midnight clear; the line ‘Oh hush the noise ye men of strife and let the angels sing.

The whole verse, in light of the world’s conflicts, sets an even starker image this Christmas time. 

But with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring; –
Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!

From another period of conflict, Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together - the classic exploration of Christian in Community - reminds us of the importance of listening. ‘Christians . . . so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking.’

The prophet Isaiah would have us to start listening to God, “Listen to me, you who know the right from wrong and cherish my laws in your hearts: don’t be afraid of people’s scorn or their slanderous talk.” Isaiah 51:7

In her hymn Listening God you hear us when we cannot speak, Marjorie Dobson gives us a lesson as to how we should regard the listing ear of God.

Listening God, you hear us when we cannot speak,
when despair and turmoil leave us faint and weak.
In love you call us back to you again
and your grace reminds us how you feel our pain.

God we praise you that you’re a listening God, you listen to the cry of your people across the world. Come to us in our pain and in our despair and clothe us in the garments of love. Amen