More listening, more loving

The Spirit of Jesus Listening in us

Listening in the spiritual life is much more than a psychological strategy to help others discover themselves. In the spiritual life the listener is not the ego, which would like to speak but is trained to restrain itself, but the Spirit of God within us. When we are baptised in the Spirit - that is, when we have received the Spirit of Jesus as the breath of God breathing within us - that Spirit creates in us a sacred space where the other can be received and listened to. The Spirit of Jesus prays in us and listens in us to all who come to us with their sufferings and pains. When we dare to fully trust in the power of God's Spirit listening in us, we will see true healing occur. Henri Nouwen Bread for the Journey

Thursday night we were reading and studying James and talking about how we love those we don't get on with or don't feel like loving. One of the conclusions was, we don't love others with our own love but out of God's love. But how do we live out of God's love? Except by receiving that love and knowing that love on many different levels. We cannot love many people from out of the bottom of our heart from our own resources. But God expands that space to fill it up with his love, to create a space or place to receive others. Thus to love God with all of our being and our neighbour as ourself is very much about receiving God's love. In my own troubles of being busy, I have to ensure that I spend enough time receiving God's love in order to live out of that love.