Relfection of a Listening Heart

I came across this reflection a few days ago, as I was going through my endless envelopes of pictures. It was something I had cut out of a prayer book several years ago, and prayed every day for quite sometime until we moved, and then I couldn't find it. It is not a coincidence that I came across it at this very moment in time - for it is a prayer which brings me great comfort amidst the turmoil of my life right now.

I am listening, Lord. I have finally banished all distractions and unwanted images. I have finally stopped fidgeting and wriggling, both symptoms of struggle. I am no longer staring at book titles or smears on window panes. Nor am I wrapped up in the torrents of words which too often consume my time with you - those lists of whom I want to remember, things for which I am grateful, petitions for the suffering world. I am still, within and without.

In this silence, in this stillness, I wait to hear your voice, Lord. I have told you so often about my desire to serve. I have offered you my gifts, time and time again, hoping you find them acceptable. I want to be commission for some glorious task, to pour myself out that others may come and find you. But it is always the same: the only words I hear are softer than the beat of my heart. "YOU are the gift," you say. "I want your love - nothing more."

~Elizabeth-Ann Vanek