Listening...

Spiritual and pastoral caregiving is, at its core, a ministry of presence and this poem speaks to that simple yet profound truth:

In the depth of silence
no words are needed,
no language required.
In the depth of silence
I am called to listen.

Listen to the beating of your heart.
Listen to the blowing of the wind,
the movement of the Spirit.
Be silent, said the Lord,
and know that I am God.

And listen to the cry of the voiceless.
Listen to the groaning of the hungry.
Listen to the pain of the landless.
Listen to the sigh of the oppressed
and to the laughter of children.

For that is authentic communication;
listening to people
living with people
dying for people.

~an Indonesian author, 1983; in Imaging the Word, vol. 3, p. 123.