Sacred Beginnings – Listen

Today Lori-lyn Hurley has invited us to consider the word LISTEN.  

I’ve always loved that listen anagrams into silent.  I need a lot of silence around me, and I’ve come to believe it helps fuel my mastery of listening.          

This may well be one of my favorite selfies.  Those unexpected, how–did-that-happen photos always delight me – they seem like little surprise messages.  The universe is always speaking and here you can see I’m listening.  With what looks like a giant ear.  I can’t look at this and not grin.      

I have blogged in the past a number of times about the practice of Lectio Divina which I’ve tweaked to be a right-fit for me.  (If you’re interested in the various posts I’ve done on the subject you can check them out here.)  But essentially, each month I find a poem or a quotation that really calls to me for deeper contemplation and consideration.  And then sometime during the month I create a piece of art or a talisman or something tangible as a reflection of that contemplation.       

I really love the practice as it feels both like a deep listening and then a co-creative effort – dancing with the energy and finding an expression for it.        

This poem by Rumi on listening is one I love and spent a month contemplating.

What is the deep listening? Sama is
a greeting from the secret ones inside

the heart, a letter. The branches of
your intelligence grow new leaves in

the wind of this listening. The body
reaches a peace. Rooster sound comes,

reminding you of your love for dawn.
The reed flute and the singer's lips:

the knack of how spirit breathes into
us becomes as simple and ordinary as

eating and drinking. The dead rise with
the pleasure of listening. If someone

can't hear a trumpet melody, sprinkle
dirt on his head and declare him dead.

Listen, and feel the beauty of your
separation, the unsayable absence.

There's a moon inside every human being.
Learn to be companions with it. Give

more of your life to this listening. As
brightness is to time, so you are to

the one who talks to the deep ear in
your chest. I should sell my tongue

and buy a thousand ears when that
one steps near and begins to speak.

Here is a photo of the talisman I created for LISTENING.         

It’s a wonderful piece of geothermal quartz, a geode, and inside I’ve rolled up a tiny scroll with an intention on the ways I want to listen.  I love how the scroll sort of mimics the outer form of the ear and also represents the snail-shape of the cochlea deep within the ear.  And it delights me that the opening into the piece of quartz itself is rather ear-shaped and lined with druzy.  I like imagining our ears like that – we get to filter what we hear through our own field of sparkling brilliance.  Just like I don’t think any of us sees exactly the same thing, I don’t think we hear the same things either.  We’re all filtering through our own unique soulness.            

What is it you’re listening to today?  Is it something that makes your heart sing?  Do you need to lean in a bit closer?  Do tell – you know I love to listen.