Summer Listening

This is the end of the traditional Church year. I am coming to understand that while fall/winter/spring programs enter a hiatus, other things become possible as we switch into summer mode. Many folk will find themselves outside more and more. As I do lawn and garden work I see and talk with neighbors whom I’ve only seen at a distance for some months. Street vendors attract crowds at Courthouse Square when the weather permits to feed the weekday lunchtime folk. Occasional visits to a Dragons Game bring me into contact with people I don’t know. Even taking a morning coffee break with church staff outside gives me a chance to engage passersby.

These are all opportunities for conversation beyond “What’s your name? Where do you live? What do you do?” This summer I’m making a conscious effort to discover what folk are thinking by asking open-ended questions and trying to listen to their answers. Perhaps the Holy Spirit speaks, and I’m too busy with my own agenda to hear. God may be doing a new thing and calling me to new tasks. Maybe I can turn that around a little bit by pausing to listen.

–The Rev. John Paddock