Lent at Holy Spirit

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
Isaiah 55:2b-3a

The world is a noisy place. This isn’t new; crashing waves and thunder and wind and frogs (to name just a few) have always filled the earth with sound. But we humans have added a lot more: honking horns and ringing phones, the hum of appliances running all the time, beeping computers and elevator music. And talking. Lots and lots of talking.

There are countless ways for us to share our ideas: television, social media, or posting videos you took with your phone. Snapchat and TikTok and Twitter value a quick, funny, eye-catching approach (and cat videos). You can Zoom with friends across the world even when you haven’t been able to see each other for years. You could talk 24 hours a day if you wanted to.

But listening? That’s entirely different.

As we make our way back into community life together, we believe listening to each other is the most important way to start. And not simply being quiet enough until it’s our turn to speak – the deep listening which is a spiritual practice, in which we grant each other space to share who we truly are, what we know, and what we wonder about.

This Lent, we will gather around the practice of listening and the theme, “Listen, God is calling.” In worship on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings we’ll hear biblical stories of speaking and listening, and the transformation that occurs when we truly hear God and one another. 

On Wednesday evenings after worship, we’ll offer a half-hour conversation time focused on the film series, “In This Together.”

Join us this Lent as we make time to listen – truly listen – to God, to the world, to ourselves, and to one another.