Holy Listening

“For reading and listening are one thing and experience is another. One cannot become a craftsman simply by hearsay: one has to practice, and watch, and make numerous mistakes, and be corrected by those with experience, so that through long perseverance and by eliminating one’s own desires one eventually masters the ARt”.

St. Peter of Damaskos The Seven Forms of Bodily Discipline Part 1

I am interrupting my journey through Maximus to focus on a spiritual discipline that came up in my own prayer life. Please bare with me as I indulge in this departure from my normal pattern.

As I reflect on so many happenings directly in my life and indirectly tied to my life I keep coming back to a desert practice that maybe we need to restore. This past weekend we made great strides at convention and, yet, still have far to go with even small changes feeling like monumental lifts and disenfranchisement. I also received news via email about several employees from former staffs who all met an abrupt end to their ministry. Each of the official emails seem to point to great personal pain and disconnection that led to an abrupt change in the life of these individuals and the lives of the communities they served. It is within this context that the practice of Holy Listening emerged anew for me.

Holy Listening is an ancient practice, rooted in the wisdom of the desert tradition, is not only a precursor to healing fractured relationships but also a profound spiritual discipline in its own right. It's a discipline that St. Peter of Damaskos eloquently speaks to when he draws the distinction between theoretical knowledge and the tangible, tactile experience of a craftsman honing his art. It is the very step before reconciliation because it centers on how ready we are to engage in true dialogue and true reconciliation without agendas and without prejudice.

Lets us imagine Holy Listening as the gentle and meticulous work of a restorer, who approaches a time-worn fresco with respect and patience. Before any restoration, there is always an assessment—a careful, non-judgmental observation. Holy Listening calls for a similar approach: we are to listen deeply and attentively, not to respond or to fix, but to understand and to be present. As we gaze upon the tapestry we are reminded that we are part of it and the restorer of it.

In this practice, as St. Peter of Damaskos guides us, the focus is on the self—not in a self-centered manner, but in a way that is self-aware and self-reflective. It is an internal process where we lay down our agendas, and our hurts become silent witnesses to the conversation. Through this, we prepare our hearts to sit with the other, not as adversaries or strangers but as fellow sojourners on the path to the divine.

Holy Listening is a solitary art that requires the listener to be fully grounded in their being, allowing them to be present with others in a way that is both compassionate and dispassionate. It is the art of listening with the heart, with an openness that is unaffected by the other's response or acceptance. It's a practice that doesn't seek to change the other but allows space for transformation within oneself.

St. Peter's wisdom is a gentle nudge, a reminder that this practice does not depend on external validation but on an internal commitment to growth and understanding. It's a call to each of us in our churches and communities to engage deeply with this sacred craft, to refine it within ourselves, and to embrace the stillness and the sacredness that comes with truly hearing and honoring the stories, the pain, and the hopes of those around us.

In this spirit, let us approach Holy Listening not as a task to be completed, but as a sacred art to be lived out in our daily interactions. This is how we prepare the canvas of our hearts for the divine—by being present, by listening, and by loving without the need for anything in return. It's a journey of many steps, and the first is always to listen.