Where Do Words Go?

Isaiah 55:10-13

This past Sunday the youth in our morning class were introduced to this passage and invited to discern its meaning in their lives through lectio divina. Lectio divina is a way of listening and responding to passages within the bible in such a way as to really try to hear what God is saying to you in that moment.

There are 5 steps to lectio divina: read, think, speak, listen, act. Basically, while one reads the passage they listen for a word or phrase which sticks out for them, or they picture an image which comes to mind. After reading the passage 3 times in this way, they sit in silence and pray, listening to and speaking with God as to what that word, phrase, or image means to them in their lives now. After this time of discernment they are invited to act on what God is calling them to do. In our case, we drew pictures.

We had pictures of trees, a happy face, musical notes coming through a grassy filed, and even the earth feeding itself "word". It's interesting to me that no 2 people in the room had the same picture. The ideas behind the picture were similar - feelings of peace and joy and how God's voice leads us into these places - but no 2 pictures were the same.

What does this say to people who think that everyone has to think the same, see the same, and talk the same when it comes to their faith?

When one tells their stories they speak words which reflect their personal ideas. No matter how much they try to keep their personal beliefs out of the story, one cannot help but to include a piece of who they are within the words they speak. The same happens with the hearers of those stories. When they listen, reflect, discern, and act upon those words they are going to do so in their individual ways.

Both the storyteller and the listener cannot help but be less than who they are, made that way through their life experiences. As much as the storyteller tries their best to be neutral, the listener will not be. So, the question becomes where do the words spoken and heard go?

If we trust in God and, more to the point, in the relationship we're building with God we need to trust that what God has spoken to us is what we are meant to hear and that what those words lead us to do is what we are meant to do. I know that's not a clear answer, but, that's all I got. The answer really is up to you.