My day starts with a tweet; not the modern kind that uses man made technology, but the soft sound of a young bird who can't stay still anymore because the sun is coming. the coo of a mourning dove tells it that it is not yet dawn and an owl of some sort agrees. The young bird's friends are awake now and start chirping their excitement for the dawn that will be.
No, I am not in a rural location these birds have found their home on roof tops, telephone wires and my neighbors Banana tree that hangs right outside the window. As I awake to this conversation I can hear the sound of a city that never stops--buzzes and whirs and faint honks of horns that in the early morning seem to travel three times the distance in the morning hush.
The sounds are the presence of a world around me and a settling in to the understanding that I am only a small part of all of this. My own insignificance sets me up to listen to others, and as I shift to a sitting position I hear that though a small part I contribute to all of this in my own way.
More sounds flood my ears as the hours progress: the laugh of children walking to school, Hispanic music from across the alley, the call of "tamales" from the street seller, the gong in the distance from the Buddhist temple around the corner, the parrots in the trees on my bike ride, the sound of waves crashing on the beach ...
As the day goes on I recognize the greatest joy--Each sound calls for a response, and I as the Hearer am invited into a connection with what I hear. I participate in conversations listening and responding--the ability to interact because we have heard, and the delight it gives to respond well to what I hear. I am called into response with my entire being. It reminds me of the cosmic conversation, that seems like a mystery is waiting to be revealed each day. Part of this gift is hearing. In Jesus' words and the words of the ancient prophets "to him who has ears to hear, let him hear."
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