Listening

What does God do all day long? And what might we learn from God?

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger

What does God do all day long? Have you ever wondered about that? Theologians certainly have a lot to say about the attributes of God. All-present. All-knowing. All-powerful. All-loving. The list could go on. When Moses encountered G-d — the respectful way in which I have seen the Most Holy Name rendered by people of the ancient faith of Abraham who dare not even speak of the All-Holy One in familiar terms — he asks “what do I tell them?” when those to whom he is being sent ask “What is his name?” God replies to Moses: “I am who am” (Ex 3:13-14). In other words, I am the one who is present.

What kind of an answer is this? It tells us everything — and nothing — about God, God’s “all-ness,” and yet the utterly mysterious unfathomability of God’s being. It is almost like God is saying, “I am what I am.” Centuries later, St. John would begin his Gospel with the same words of the very first book of the Bible: “In the beginning …” He writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). What a brilliant proclamation of the one-ness yet otherness of the divine identity. God not only IS, but is FOR, a being who precisely by being present cannot but BE present TO.

I hope I am not getting too mysterious here myself, but I am reflecting on something that I think is very important for us to grasp, not only in our relationship with God, but with everything, everyone whom God has created. Indeed, John follows his introduction immediately with the explanation that “All things came to be through him” — the Word, that is — “and without him nothing came to be” (Jn 1:3). God certainly gets things done.

John is telling us, however, that God is not only a Creator, but a Relator. Yes, God has made and continues to make and sustain things (including people) and, therefore, God is always speaking, something is always coming forth from the “mouth” of God, an Eternal Word. Is God then talking all the time? Is that what God does all day long? Talk?

We have all heard that “talk is cheap.” We have expressions — not very complimentary — that such and such a one is “all-talk.” In “The Wizard of Oz,” perhaps the most memorable line of the Scarecrow, the one that proves he is pretty smart after all, is “some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.” Talking is often associated with babble, word salad and empty chatter. In others, saying nothing. Lawyers sell words, do they not? Anyone engaged in a lawsuit will be doled reams of paper full of words. I have a wheelbarrow of my own!

Anyone who tries to talk to God knows that God is not much of a chatterbox. In fact, more often than not, silence is what any conversation with God seems to meet. So often as a priest — with a legal background no less and a college major in English — I am expected to “say” things. All the time — as with any public figure — I am asked to make a statement, to comment on current events, not only religious but even social and political. Of course, much of what I will say anyone could have said, but there is something people want to hear from me because of my office or position. Isn’t it true that we always want to hear God’s answer to so many questions that we have? Isn’t that often why we pray? We want an answer. Or, even more, we want some action: “Why doesn’t God DO something about …”

Well, God does. God gives us his Word. God gives us Jesus. The Gospels contain many references to the definitive presence of God in Jesus Christ — Emmanuel or “God with us.” And Jesus certainly has many things to say, many things to teach us. When we are commissioned to bring the “good news” to the world, to proclaim the word, to evangelize and to catechize, are we not all charged with “saying” things? 

Yet we have a “saying” in English that “actions speak louder than words.” So I am back to the original question, “What does God DO all day long?” And what might we learn from God? I have often thought that the best answer is to say that God blesses. Blessings are graces, free gifts that we do not earn. We sometimes even ask for a blessing from a parent or some esteemed figure, but when we pray to God, more often than not, are we not asking for some favor? A cure? A sense of direction? A deliverance to a better place or position?

So if God is going to answer our prayers, does God not have to listen first? The more I think about it, the more I think it is that what God has to do all day long is listen, that listening is very much at the core of the divine identity. Listening lovingly in the way that a parent waits for the first words of an infant, the way lovers dwell upon any word or gesture from the beloved, or the bride and groom wait for the simple words “I do” or “I will” when the vows are exchanged. God dotes on us, waiting to respond to the words from our hearts.

Speaking of action, isn’t listening also the most God-like action that any of us can do? I have found — and am still learning — that the best way I can be a priest is to focus on being a better listener myself. Sometimes I have been tempted to interrupt or rush a conversation along when detained by a soul in need of attention, but taking a long time to get to “the point.” We all know the humiliating feeling of being rushed out of an appointment with a professional person, not certain we have been heard. “Customer service” has become an oxymoron like “airline food.” Occasionally, however, when I muster up the patience and remember my own disappointments with being rushed along, I have abided by a long story, a complaint, even a critique and decided simply to say nothing, but just BE there (“don’t just DO something; STAND there”). Sometimes, after a long time, the person might even remark, “my, you are a good conversationalist.” I haven’t said a word. 

Listening can be so healing. Maybe that is how God loves us best, by listening, abiding by, being present wherever we are, especially when we take the time to acknowledge that we always have God’s undivided attention. The power of listening may be the most important tool in the art of good conversation. Even the art of prayer.