Blessed

 

I’ve always said that I feel blessed.  Life has had its ups and downs—to be sure—but in the grand scheme of God’s creation, I truly feel that I’m “blessed”. 

“While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”  He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28).

The first step to a blessed life is hearing the Word of God.  To “hear” implies that we do much more than become familiar with the Gospels.  Hearing means we’re not only aware of all that our Lord has revealed, but it also means that we’ve truly internalized it, understanding all that our Lord requires of us.

We all are able to hear God's word, but we don't always truly hear for a number of reasons.  Some of us expect that God will come to us in a roar of power, simply because He can, and so when He doesn't, we don't hear what He says.  Some of us don't pay attention or listen very carefully, and so we start talking about how we’re going to keep (or how great a job we do of keeping) God's word before He finishes talking to us; before we really know what He’s saying.  Some of us are talking so loudly about ourselves and what is important to us that we can't possibly hear what God, or anyone else for that matter, is saying.  Some of us don't even care to try to listen.

The thing about hearing God's word is that it isn't rocket science.  It isn't head challenging.  God will talk with us so we can understand.  Hearing God's word is heart challenging.  It requires heart-felt effort.  We have to slow down.  We have to calm ourselves.  We have to open ourselves so we can hear with our hearts, not with our ears or heads.  It’s hard to slow down, to ignore the busy-ness of our lives.  But the fact that you’re taking time to read this little reflection, and that I’m taking time to write it, is a small sense of slowness, of listening, of hearing God's word.

I sometimes get frustrated that I don't (seem to) have time every day to pray and reflect the way I want to.  But then I remind myself that God doesn't just talk with me when I’m prepared to listen, He talks with me and tells me His word every day, in so many ways.  I hear His calming word when I’m tempted to get angry with the person who cuts me off in traffic.  I hear Him speak with joy in His creation when I bask in the warmth of my wife's smile.  I hear Him loudly lament about tiny babies who are crushed from life moments before their birth, and I hear Him softly call to me from the depths of my own self-created despair when I unwittingly turn my back on Him.

And Jesus reminds us that the blessings are not just for those that hear, but for those who keep the word.  We keep it by practicing what we hear, by renewing ourselves, by living the Word.  This is such a personal call, a personal message.  I can tell you what I believe, and how I think this word affects my life, and how I keep it (or as happens to us all, how I have failed to keep it so many times in my life).  But only you can hear God's word for you, and only you can keep God's word for you.

For those of us who struggle in any way with both hearing and observing the voice of God, maybe we should recommit ourselves to a time of humble and wholehearted discovery.  We can tell our Lord that we’re sorry for not being attentive to Him and set ourselves on a mission to seek and find Him.  We can reject the confusion and anxiety of life, reject the many other voices of “wisdom” within our world, and listen for His gentle but clear voice.  He is always speaking.  He is always calling us.  He is always present. May we open the eyes of our souls and give Him our full attention.  And when we sense Him speaking to us, respond with the utmost generosity and obedience.  Doing so will result in discovering what it means to be truly blessed by our Lord.