Listening beneath the Surface
Compassion and Listening
Reflection By Robbin Brent
Today, and all the days of my life, grant me the strength to examine my heart. May I be faithful, God, to your gift of truth in me.
- Beverly Lanzetta
As we practice compassionate listening, we are better able to listen beneath surface emotions and appearances to the deeper places where we, and others, are hurting. Prayerful listening from that deeper place opens our hearts and minds to the pain and distress, our own and others, that otherwise might go unnoticed. Listening deeply to sorrow however it shows up in our lives and relationships is an important step on our journey of practicing compassion.
One spiritual prayer practice that can enhance our ability to listen is the Daily Examen. While we can apply this practice to any area of our lives, we can use it in a particular way to help us pay attention to where God may be guiding us in our practice of deep listening (the full practice is on pp. 80–81). First, we sit quietly as we listen for God. Then, looking back over the day, we notice times when we felt most alive and thank God for those moments; times when we felt the least grateful and offer those with thanks to God; times when we offered or received, or weren’t able to offer or receive, the gift of compassionate listening; and finally, we notice moments when we either felt aligned with, or far from, living out God’s purpose for our lives and offer these to God too.
One of the gifts of this practice is that it strengthens our ability to be fully present with ourselves as we listen for God. This, in turn, strengthens our ability to listen to others in a loving, kind, and generous way that reflects our desire, with God’s help, to respond compassionately as we are able.
Making it Personal: If you engaged with the Daily Examen practice, were you surprised by anything that came up around your willingness to practice compassionate listening? Any new ah-ha’s, insights, or inspiration? Is there anything you feel ready to do based on what you learned from this practice?