Pausing to Listen
Monday in Holy Week
Reflection By Jan Kwiatkowski
All these sounds would be easy to miss if I did not create the time and space to listen to them. Listening to them brings me a sense of peace and joy.
- Craig Phillips
In the way to the pool after one of those brief summer thunderstorms, my grandson asked, “Nana, can you hear the puddles splash?” While I’d heard the sound of splashing puddles many times, when my grandchild asked me to listen, I stopped and truly listened. And you know what? Puddles actually do splash. In my eagerness to get to the “good stuff ” of pool-time, had I not paused to listen to a little voice, I’d have missed a wonderful moment. In his reflection yesterday, Craig Phillips wrote about the gifts of peace and joy we receive when we take the time to pause and listen.
Most of us have walked the days of Holy Week many times before and we know how the story of the week unfolds. Yet, in our culture’s eagerness to get to the “good stuff ” of Easter, I wonder if we might be missing what is being declared to us in the moments of each day of Holy Week?
As we journey through this week, we are, once again, invited to pause and listen for any new things God might be declaring to us. Just as Craig’s backyard invited him to hear what was going on around him, and my grandson invited me to hear a new thing in splashing puddles, perhaps paying closer attention and listening to what we are experiencing in the present moment will allow us to notice what God is doing in our lives, this day, this week, and this Easter.
Making It Personal: Have you ever found yourself wanting to hurry through the discomfort of Holy Week for the “good stuff ” of Easter? If yes, how might that get in the way of you hearing the things God is saying to you during this week? What is one thing you can do, or let go of, today in order to pause and listen?
Follow along with us this Lent season with our daily devotional and engage in discussion in our closed facebook group moderated by Robbin Brent, Jan Kwiatowski, and Scott Stoner.
In this group, participants will have a chance to share their responses to the prompts in the daily readings, and also the chance to receive additional material for reflection.