The priority of listening over talking is necessary for faith
Posted on November 22nd 2009 in Weekly messages
Recently I was asked by a friend to view a flat he was thinking of purchasing through auction, in order to give my opinion of its suitability. It struck me when visiting the property that most of the other potential bidders were all whispering about which walls they would knock through, and what other expensive changes they would make. In a strange way it seemed rather rude, to visit the flat and start shouting about what it should be like, rather than contemplate what the flat, through its existing layout, was saying about how life could be lived within. The previous occupants must have survived somehow, and it seemed to me this little episode was a timely parable about some of the unfortunate aspects of our culture. Leaving aside the question as to whether a home should be a place to live in or an investment, what struck me forcefully was how one can so easily become deaf to what others are saying. Contemporary culture involves a lot of shouting, of forcing oneself and one’s views on others. Consequently, no property is ever good enough. No longer is a coat of paint and new carpets sufficient but a property has to be gutted prior to occupation. Not for people of such disposition the delight of an eccentric Irish peer living in a former monastery in Italy, who announced to a group of bemused seminarians, that there had not been much redecoration in his former monastery since the 1300s!
In this respect the Church, stands apart, something rather strangely recognised by a new work of art in the Anglican Liverpool Cathedral by an artist not really known until now for her religious convictions, Tracy Emin. The artist’s handwitten sign over the sandstone building’s west doors, “I felt you and then I knew you loved me”, was lit up in 20ft pink neon letters.
Over a half a million visitors to the Cathedral have seen this in the last year alone and, though in terms of faith it is incomplete, it starts in the right place. The quality of this love needs to be explored in the experience of divine mercy and the purification through divine fire, as does a more explicit reference to the means of access to this mercy, through Jesus Christ, the sacraments, and of life within the Church.
However, these words may help to understand the nature of Christ’s kingship that the Church celebrates this Sunday. Jesus Christ is universal King, and the source of His power is not within the world, much to the perplexity of Pontius Pilate. Its source is God’s love, and it is that power that should rule the heart of the Christian. This power cannot be imposed, but only accepted through a faith-led attentive listening. This is all a long way from the shouting that typifies our modern culture. The ability to listen should mark out the Christian, both in relation to the Word, the reception of the Holy Spirit, and with regard to the ‘still sad music of humanity’.