Silence

I am reading a wonderful book called The Silence of God: meditations on prayer by James P Carse. The Community has a suggested reading list and this is one of those. It is one of the most beautifully written and most thought-provoking books I've read in a long time.

One of the things that really struck me tonight was part of his meditation on speech. He drew a distinction between authoritative speech that gives orders and requires obedience (and takes away other people's right to speak) and expectant speech, which is speech that comes from a deep listening to others. He uses this comparison to think about prayer - prayer not being told what to do by God, but listening to the silence that is God.

'If we should say that God has not spoken imperatively, but expectantly, then we read the revealed word, or scriptures, very differently. We should see in them an indication of what God listens for in us. Is there a revealed receptiveness here that can create a new heart?' (p.30)

The question I'm now asking myself is "What is God listening for in me?" What is it that God wants to hear in me, that comes out of deep listening to God? A question to ponder!