My
phone's centering prayer app begins each session by asking me to, "Consent
to God's presence and actions within you." The word "consent"
often triggers memories of a statement I've heard practically all my life.
Often attributed to Plato, the idiom, in its briefest form, is, "Silence
gives consent."
Whenever and
wherever I've heard this, I've always taken it as a warning, much like the
preacher's cautionary command in the classic wedding liturgy, "If any[one]
objects to this marriage, speak now, or forever hold your peace." It's a
reminder that there may likely be a time when it will be too late for our words
to make a difference.
In the
context of prayer – more specifically, contemplative prayer, which is not about
talking to God, but about listening – the notion of consent has a little different
feel. I still feel the warning, reminding me that, through the very process of
intentionally silencing my own voices, I am, in fact, consenting for the voice
of the divine to whisper into the silence in ways that I may not otherwise hear;
and I have absolutely no control over what that voice will say or ask me to do
or be. But I also feel a sense of freedom, peace, and trust in the hope that,
my own ego and scheming set aside, I might very well hear and begin to better
understand how I can live, breathe, and love in this life, toward the ways for
which I was created.
Some
days, my consenting and my listening are far deeper than others; likewise, my
ability to respond to the calling of that consent. I hope, trust, and pray,
that you will also regularly find courage to consent in silence to the divine
will and ways at work in your life. As long as we have even the remotest of
connections, I need for you to do that nearly as much as you do.
© 2015
Todd Jenkins
<3
ReplyDeleteI love the juxtaposition of images in this. And the blending of the wedding liturgy with "consent to listen both to and with God." Is it possible that God listens with us, too?
ReplyDeleteAnd the prayer...at the end...is like a benediction. May I use it that way...after I process it myself? May the benediction be mirrored back to you....
I am printing this out...keeper for the journal...and for days of mind-settling...
DeleteGod listening with us? That reminds me of what a 5-year-old told her mom once, when her mom scolded her after worship because she was rambunctious during the service. The little girl had been sitting with my wife during worship because her mom was the choir director. I was preaching.
DeleteHer mom said, "You were so noisy and wiggling around so much, I bet Miss Jennie was disappointed that she couldn't hear Mr. Todd's sermon."
Without skipping a beat, the little girl answered, "Oh, no, mama, she's already heard everything Mr. Todd has to say."
But God listening? I think that's part of the divine DNA, to be always listening with us, whether or not God has already heard it all; because attentiveness is an essential component of hospitality.
I like that.
:)
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