Listen to your life

A young man was standing over the crib of his newborn baby, intently staring. His wife tiptoed into the room and stood beside him, filled with joy as she looked upon their first child. She saw that her husband’s face was filled with wonder and admiration. Tears were in her eyes and her voice trembled with emotion as she put her arm around him and said “a penny for your thoughts!” Truly this was one of those very special moments! Then she heard his answer: “ I was just thinking that for the life of me I don’t see how they could make and sell a crib like that for just $ 79.95!”

More often than not it is we men who rush past the most meaningful things in life. We have designed and built a society that is full of timesaving gadgets, but we still cram our days so full of activities that we never stop to smell the roses. If we aren’t busy, we are bored. If we stop to really listen to somebody, or to hear the birds sing, or to contemplate what is true or meaningful in life, there is a little man down inside us telling us to get moving because we are wasting time.

Ladies may be a little better about this, but not much better. All of us seem to be preoccupied with things that don’t really matter very much.

One of my favorite authors is Frederick Buechner. He says some wonderful things on many subjects, but he will tell you that his main message is “listen to your life.” He has convinced me that God primarily speaks to us through little incidental happenings and casual conversations, not through great prophetic utterances and dramatic events. In other words, He is not speaking through the whirlwind or the earthquake, but through the still, small voice.

Recently I just went outside and lay down on a blanket in my back yard, and was amazed at the sounds and the smells and the sights of birds and bugs and the gentle breeze! I couldn’t help but think of how much I had missed. It has been a long time since I gazed at the stars at night. I have charged the battery on my cell phone, but I haven’t often charged the battery of my soul. I have filled my gas tank for fifty dollars, but I haven’t filled my life with wonder for fifteen minutes.

I believe that if we develop a listening heart we will find that Someone is speaking to us in many ways in our lives, possibly even every day. When a friend gives you a warm greeting, when a child brings you a picture she colored, when a sweet old dog licks your face, when somebody calls your number “by mistake”, or when you see someone with a broken-down car on the road, it just might be your moment to enjoy, to see, to hear, to learn, and to serve.

We can’t program certain times for it to happen, and we certainly can’t choose the means by which a message will come to us. Biblical times relate that God spoke to people through dreams, storms, birds, fish, bushes, gourd plants, and even donkeys. I have known people whose lives were changed for the better through a TV newscast, through a loss of a job, or through a car wreck. Many including myself have found a new perspective on life through a song on the radio!

You can know who is speaking by the message that you get. In my experience it has always been the unexpected and it has always been a surprise. It is not a means to authenticate or confirm my own selfish decisions to do what I want to do. I once heard a comedian say that he prayed that if he was supposed to get a dozen Krispy-kreme donuts to just have an empty parking place waiting for him. He said, “Amazingly, there it was, just when I circled the block the eighth time!”

The possibilities are limitless. Something may speak to you through a book, a blue bird, or a bumper sticker. It could be a frog or a fish or a feather. Perhaps it will be a sunrise, a song, a smile, or a snake in your yard. We must be listening in order to hear.

We are told that “every good gift comes from above”. I believe that truth, wherever and however it is found, comes from the one Source of truth, who is much greater than my understanding, much larger than my life, and much bigger than my religion. When somebody helps us or is nice to us, or when we have opportunity to help or be nice to someone else, we may someday find that it was divinely appointed.

It is my hope that when you read these “I’ve been thinking” articles that you may hear a message that is far beyond, and far greater than, the voice or the message of Jim Lee. But then again, you might get nothing at all here. What you really need you may find on the front cover picture, or in a poem or another article. Or on the jokes pages! The main thing is to be listening to your life.

A great popular song from years ago said, “Every time I hear a newborn baby cry– or touch a leaf– or see the sky– then I know why –I believe”.

I do believe, Lord ! Please help me not to miss the baby by just looking at the crib.