Dear Friends,
Some years ago my sister-in-law gave my husband Buddy and me two coffee mugs. One, a half-size cup, says Talker. The other, a full-size one, says Listener. Today, I’m a listener. It’s the morning after the JYM Retreat so I’m tired, and there’s a lot processing through me. I’m listening to moments of joy, laughter, heart, and intention that are replaying within me after a grace-filled weekend.
But I’m also listening for all that I can learn from the ways my own privilege and racism have recently become very evident to me and to other Friends around me. This listening is uncomfortable and challenging. I’m trying to be prayerfully honest and keep my heart and mind open to the generous teaching and wise guidance of others. It is hard, necessary work that I trust is grace-filled even if I can't feel it at the moment.
Between all I am receiving, I don’t have wisdom rising in me to share with you today. For sure, this is not a convenient state to be in under deadline. But it’s the truth. Today, I’m a listener.
Early Friends often greeted each other asking, What canst thou say? I wonder if sometimes some of them answered, "I'm listening." For me, one of the blessings of being a spiritual seeker within Friends is that this is both honest and okay. We admit and celebrate that none of us has the open line to God all of the time. Spirit may rise up from any one of us in worship, as well as around a cup of tea, on a phone call, or while making worry dolls with children on Zoom. For someone like me who is prone to talking too much, there is great comfort—and opportunity for growth—in this.
We need each other for more than spoken messages. We need each other to help us see past denial, to listen for what is a leading from Spirit and not a need of our own ego, to hold grounded space when we are in overdrive or outrunning our Guide, and to refuel our tanks of joy and belonging. Within this circle, there’s hope, sometimes even trust, that guidance, truth, or comfort will arise—from that of God, from within, from another, from a tree, tenacious root of bittersweet, or returning osprey. And while we're waiting, listening, or learning, Friends will walk beside us.
I am deeply grateful for each of you, both those of you with spirit-led words to share and those who are sitting with me listening. I am holding you in prayer and gratitude that you have companions on your journey, hear what you need, are heard by those who need to hear you, and know that you are a treasured gift.
With love,
Gretchen