Present and Listening:  A Practice of Reflection by the Rev. Liz Dowling-Sendor

What happens when people set aside time to deeply listen to each other's stories and to reflect on their lives?  During six Friday mornings this spring the Johnson Interns have been engaged in what we're calling "Present and Listening," a way of storytelling and compassionate response.   This is the third year we've offered Interns and members of the community this chance to hear and respond to each other's struggles and joys or to help discern a sense of calling. 
 
This spring the Interns - along with Susan Gladin, Ebeth Scott-Sinclair, Ryan Rowe and myself -- gather in the living room for two and a half hours of discussion and listening.  We open with a "Three Breaths" meditation, becoming more and more aware of the present moment, disconnecting for a time from concerns about past and future, becoming more fully attentive to each other.  Then we check in on how we're doing - or how we are being - that day.   Next, we do our own version of the ancient practice of lectio divina, a way of reading in which the reader pays attention to certain words or phrases that stir a deep response within.  Week by week, we read one of the six chapters of Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer, and each Friday morning we offer phrases from that week's chapter that spoke most profoundly to us.
 
Then we move into the "Listening Hearts" part of the morning, during which one person reflects to the group about a current joy or challenge or struggle.  Presenters might talk about anything from what's happening for them today, or what they're facing now, to a situation like a relationship or a pattern in their lives or a sense of where they're being called.  The others listen quietly and carefully, becoming aware of what arises in themselves as they listen.   
 
After the presenter has spoken, and after a silence, the listeners each name a feeling and an image they discerned from the presenter's story.  Then they offer thoughts on what seems to them to be the key issue in the story. Next they suggest something from the Bible, literature, music or art - such as a story, a character, a word or phrase, an image - that seems to them to resonate with the presenter's story. Finally, the listeners tell how the presenter's story seems to parallel something they also have experienced.  At the end, presenters reflect back to the group on how this listening exercise affected them and what insights they might have gained.   Between each type of response, we observe times of silence in order to maintain a reflective mood and to gain more clarity within ourselves before our next response.
 
Over our weeks together in this safe and confidential setting, as we share our wisdom and our struggles and joys with each other, we find that trust can build, compassion for each other can deepen and a sense of community can continue to grow strong.