Rev. Lori: Are We Listening People?
A version of this reflection was originally published in the previous week’s Friday Flyer.
Hello, Good People!
In a world where everyone seems to be speaking, listening can be a spiritual practice.
Hearing is easy; listening takes intention. It asks us to pause, to quiet our own voices, and to make room for someone else’s truth. Our Unitarian Universalist tradition invites us into that deeper listening—to one another, to the wisdom of many traditions, and to the quiet voice within.
The Quakers, who have informed us this winter, remind us that truth can rise out of silence when we wait and listen together.
So the question for us today is simple but profound: In all the noise of our lives and our world—are we truly listening?
I invite you to spend the next two days listening more than talking. Use the “take a breath” practice to hesitate before jumping in with an opinion or verbal offering. Use your voice to ask a reflective question of the person you are with. Listen for the undercurrents of what they are sharing. See them, listen to them, REALLY hear them. There is truly nothing more kind than to truly see or hear someone. That is a great gift to people! This practice also allows you to process a little deeper what is happening and spoken about in the world around you. So just for these next two days, I invite you into the practice of speaking less, listening deeper and offering a reflective and deepening presence to those around you. This may change someone’s world!
Rev Lori Whittemore
(she, her, hers)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Saco Biddeford