"Listen! they said….
Listen! the earth will tell you
in the middle of the night
what your heart needs to know."
~Martha O. Adams
I feel especially blessed these days to be surrounded by young adults who are in transition. Some are moving from high school to college, others are nearing college graduation. All are looking forward to the 'what next' of their lives. All are asking deep questions about what they value, what motivates them,how their dreams might be realized. It is a privilege to share in these conversations knowing that I have no real answers for them, only the gift of a listening ear and usually a series of additional questions, hopefully helpful ones. To be present to the unfolding of these young lives is true blessing.
A part of that blessing comes from being confronted with those questions once again for myself. Knowing that my life experience was so different at their age, I search my memory for how I made decisions, what drove me, what excited me, what I knew I couldn't 'live' without doing. As I reflect upon how things have emerged, I see there was only a very small influence of what might be described as rational thought, a detailed action plan. What really has caused me to arrive where I am, doing what I do, was truly driven by heart. What I love, where my passions took me, how my eyes saw what was beautiful, the faith that evolved along the way, the companions I happened upon.
in his book Let Your Life Speak:Listening for the Voice of Vocation, Parker Palmer writes:"Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be." Wise words at all ages, I believe, for no matter where we are on life's path, we can convince ourselves of many 'oughts' that take us down paths that do not help us live our life's calling. The distractions of daily living really provide enough detours without our help, so what good is it to follow what we think, or believe others think, we ought to be doing?
It is Monday, the beginning of a new work week for most. What does your heart need to know about the deep yearnings within you? How are you taking time to listen to that voice that calls to you in the night urging you to 'what next'? Regardless of our chronological age, our authentic self calls to us, asking to be born again and again over all the years are privileged to walk this amazing planet. It is a deep prayer that rests within each of us.
Our true work is to listen, deeply listen.