Making Music Together

A cheetah perched atop a termite mound – muscles tense, eyes piercing through the acres of golden grasses. A beautiful animal in the narrow focus of the camera – and yet there’s no mistaking the story that is about to unfold – the bigger context of the cycle of life in the Serengeti.

A magnificent tree – fascinating to my artist’s eye for the tunnel that has perforated the massive trunk. The larger context tells us that the tree bark provides moisture for the enormous elephants that share the land, as well as a scratching post for their tough skin. Nature’s way.

Over and over again, listening from a perspective of “not knowing”, there was so much to learn about life and relationships while we were in Africa in December. It helps that I had little actual knowledge about Tanzania before I arrived there, although I brought with me my limited experience of life from my sheltered life in the US.  While I might be able to understand, intellectually, when have I ever felt in my being the critical role that animal dung plays in the cycle of life: notice of animals that have passed through, signaling possible danger, healing power, fuel for fire, warm homes for beetle’s eggs, and more? This was just one minor example of many spiritual lessons I learned in the context of survival in Africa.

There is so much we can learn by broadening our perspective – viewing life circumstances from the larger whole. The same is true of our conversations with each other.  In February, our ministers chose “Deep Listening” as our theme to consider, and we delved more deeply into this in our Open Circles. How often do we enter into conversation with each other with our own agendas, barely hearing what the other has to say in our rush to be heard ourselves?  Or leaping to solve another’s problem when they actually only wanted to speak out loud as they sorted through their thoughts?  As Rev. Josh referenced St. Francis and Steven Covey in his sermon on February 6th, deep listening “is the spiritual practice of seeking to understand before seeking to be understood.”  At St. John’s College where our daughter Laura attended, the rule in the classroom is that a student’s contribution to the discussion must build on the previous student’s thoughts, forcing “being in one conversation”, to quote my friend Dianne Collins, instead of focusing on one’s own agenda.  Laura was encouraged to come to the table without having it “all figured out” so she would be open to new possibilities.

This spring – as most years – we’ll have plenty of opportunity for deep listening as we consider topics of importance for our church. We’ll entertain and vote on changes in our bylaws.  We’ll tell our stories of what’s important to us as we consider our financial support for the future.  We’ll be clarifying our mission – and deciding how we can best put that mission into action.  What is the larger context within which we engage these important conversations?  How do we remind ourselves to seek to understand, first and be prepared to embrace new possibilities?  As Dianne says, “Communication resides in the relationship between one person and another. Communication is not a thing. It is an amorphous living presence that exists in the ether, like music”.  When we listen with our whole being in the context of making a difference together, we’ll make music together. 

In Faith,

Nancy