Telling It

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   June 1, 2019

Within each of us is the power of story. Not a single isolated thread, but a burgeoning collective of relationship, experience, circumstance, and dreams that speak to the richness and complexity of who I am, of who we are.

Each of us is owed the opportunity to share the story of our lives. And although it may not be theologically correct, I feel that when voices are silenced by forces beyond their control, the beauty of the Holy One is in some way diminished or obscured. When the story that is uniquely me is never breathed into life, is ridiculed or dismissed or ignored, is never allowed an opening to be spoken or heard, then some part of the universe is lacking, missing, incomplete. We are all in some way less for that un-telling.

That message was palpably present to me when I recently made a first-time visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, a dream I’ve held since it first opened in 2016. There was no way I could be present along with thousands of others walking through in reverent stillness without the power of story reverberating and staying with me.

There was a hush among the crowd who visited the museum with me, but the silence was not empty. It shouted of longing and desire to be heard. It sang of pride and anguish and loss and grief and rejoicing and committed protest. It celebrated full-throated spirituals and liberating dance and jazz and the music of poetry. It refused to remain untold or hidden away from history books. It stood rooted in abiding faith and the company of the ancestors. It was, for me, made holy by the multitude of voices speaking across time and space and echoing on every floor.

I can speak only to my own limited experience, which was that at times, my being at the museum was painful and humbling at what has been endured and at my often unconscious role in that suffering; at times, full of wonder; at times, filled with awe at the courage and perseverance on display; at all times, challenged at every turn to seek the fullness of justice for all. I couldn’t help reflecting how much less we would all be if these stories were left untold. Whenever we encounter and truly listen to another’s story, we are enriched. We cannot remain the same.

What a grace and an enlightenment it is to know even a paragraph or a brief chapter of another’s journey. When we come face to face with what another has been shouldering, when we learn what is so precious to them that they hold it in trembling and tender hands, when we discover the spaciousness of heart another has had to grow into so that a larger story might come into being, we are surely standing on holy ground.

This is true of each of us and the stories we carry. In our families and relationships, our neighborhoods, our nation, our world, we hold many remembrances that are awaiting and deserving of a listening. May we honor and give thanks for the profound privilege it is to be invited into another’s life in this way. May our stories be both told and heard with honesty, with reverence, and with tenderness.

Takeaway

Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
Reflect on these words from David W. Augsburger:
“Being heard is so close to being loved that for most people, they are indistinguishable.”

When have you experienced being listened to in this way?
When have you given another the gift of being fully heard?
Ask for the grace of attentive hearing.
Give thanks to the Holy One who is always present, always responsive.

NOTE:

Please hold in your prayer all who will be part of a guided retreat I’ll be leading for the Sisters of Mercy in Merion Station, PA, June 1 – June 7. 

May I also ask you to remember me as I enter into my own time of retreat beginning June 15. Thank you.

To automatically receive a new blog as soon as it’s posted:
Go to the beginning of this current blog.
As you scroll down slowly, you will see a “Follow” button in the lower right hand corner.
Click on “Follow” and a form will appear for you to fill in your email address.
After you do that, you’ll receive an email asking you to verify your address.
Click on this link, and you’ll receive a confirmation that you’re now automatically subscribed.
Please note that if you’re reading the blog on your phone, you may not see the word “Follow.”  Try reading it on a PC and you should have no problem subscribing.

Thanks for signing on and Following!