Patience and Learning to Listen

Patience and Learning to Listen

Rev. Kat Carroll
11 min or less read

My mother and I talk a lot more these days than we did when I was a child, teen, or even as a young adult.  Something changed the dynamics.

We lost my father some years back. He wasn’t very religious, didn’t understand the concept behind the bible, and didn’t think or talk in spiritual terms. He was a good man, but he didn’t feel comfortable discussing such matters. So, we didn’t talk a lot about paranormal experiences and the like until after he left the visible. I was there at the moment of his departure.

It wasn’t shocking. We knew it was coming. It’s quiet, peaceful, like he had lived his life.  And now he would be able to see what’s on the other side of the veil. So, I was happy for him as he began his new journey. But we do miss him, while knowing he’s still with us, and he tries to let us know.

Back to me and mom…. As soon as her grief had lessened, she began having experiences, contact experiences, in the house or when sitting outside. She even had an experience, hearing a sound that was not possible, and one of her friends was there to confirm she heard it too.

She began sharing some of her dreams and experiences during meditation, and prayer, or when sitting quietly in the yard.  I’m pleased she was brave enough to reach out to me. Not as a minister, or one who studies mysticism, religion, paranormal events, or our purpose on earth; But as a daughter who would support and encourage her exploration of these events without fear or ridicule.

Recently, she had been grumbling about praying to God to get information or guidance and often feeling she was being ignored.
Be careful what you wish for…

Soon after, she had a vivid or lucid dream where she was told, “you just need to learn how to listen” and the message was to listen with your heart. In other words, the feelings of love and connection, and gratitude. Those moments when we sit quietly, notice the signs offered in nature, and those random thoughts that may be the very message you’ve been waiting for.

Increasing our awareness is best accomplished through the practice of meditation, but it is not the only way. Prayer can work as well. However, meditation increases one’s ability to perceive more of what is around them, including the subtle messages that most of us discount as random thoughts.  That’s because in silence and stillness, you’ve emptied your cup and are ready for it to be filled. And yes, I’m borrowing from the movie Avatar, LOL!

Patience

The other issue is with our impatience, our need for immediate gratification or fulfillment. But the Universe and/or God may not be designed to work that way, especially if we are in the Earth, but not of it.  We are meant to have experiences that help us evolve. Even what we consider bad experiences may have real value in educating and tempering our soul.

Even when we lose someone, it doesn’t mean the story or relationship ended. Patience 🎶

Here is a very short clip from the movie Evan Almighty. It’s about a man who gets a message to build an Ark from God, and follows the instruction despite everyone, including his wife, thinking he’s crazy.

His wife gets a message from God, acting as a waiter (portrayed by Morgan Freeman who’s been in that role before).

You can watch the poignant movie clip here:  Evan Almighty – Opportunity to be patient.

Or read along with the transcript:

Joan (Evan’s Wife): Excuse me can I get a refill please?
Waiter/God: Coming right up. Excuse me, are you all right?
Joan: Yeah…. No.  It’s a long story.
God: But I like stories.  I’m considered a bit of a storyteller myself.
Joan: My husband, you’ve heard of New York’s Noah?
God: (Chuckles) The guy who’s building the ark?
Joan: That’s him.
God: I love that story!  You know a lot of people miss the point of that story.
They think it’s about God’s wrath and anger.
They love it when God gets angry.
Joan: What is the story about then… The Ark?
God: Well, I think it’s a love story about believing in each other.
You know the animals showed up in pairs.
They stood by side by side, just like Noah and his family;
Everybody entered the ark, side by side.
Joan: But my husband says God told him to do it.
What do you do with that?
God: Sounds like an opportunity.
Let me ask you something:
If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience?
Or to give them the opportunity to be patient?
If they prayed for courage, does God give them courage,
or does he give them opportunity to be courageous?
If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does it give them opportunities to love each other?
Joan: Huh!
God:  Well, I’ve gotta run.  A lot of people to serve. Enjoy!

Did you catch the Easter Egg in her name? Joan (of Ark)? 😁

So where am I going with this?

Learning to Listen

Perhaps the answers are already there but quietly waiting for us to notice them. Answers can come in many forms. I like to look for signs and synchronicities or notice the thoughts that arrive during meditation.

There’s a great book on that topic by Laura Lynn Jackson: Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe.  She also wrote the New York Times bestseller The Light Between Us.

Laura possesses an incredible gift: the ability to communicate with loved ones who have passed, convey messages of love and healing, and impart a greater understanding of our interconnectedness. But it’s not limited to her, or people like her. Anyone can learn this skill – once they quiet their mind and listen.

And as we are made by God, the mother/father/logos or Pleroma, whatever you want to call it, we know the predominant energy is love, or at least that’s what I believe!

So, we need only ask, in prayer or meditation, for signs and the ability to recognize them when they show up in our day.

Seeking signs, whether auditory (I sometimes get those), a symbol, like a feather in your path, a penny, an odd cloud – Pay attention!
It may be part of the answer you were seeking. Even that voice in your head that may not be a stray thought after all.

If something looks out of place on a walk, look it up when you get home. This book can help, but you can also check the internet for the spiritual meanings of the animals and other things that show up in life’s journey. They each have a message.

As a Minister, I would be remiss in my duty if I didn’t sprinkle in a few related passages from the Good Book.

Proverbs 20:12 establishes the foundational truth that “the hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both,” emphasizing that these physical senses are divine gifts intended for wisdom and diligence.

In other words, we must try to understand those answers we have requested! That’s why we were given “eyes to see and ears to hear”.

And we are also told to seek those answers:

So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. / For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. – Luke 11:9-10

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
– James 1:5

The next time you feel frustrated for not getting answers, ask yourself:

“Did I ask with a sincere heart, and did I take the time to listen for an answer or a sign?”

And remember, we were made in the image of God, or the god’s, (Depending on who you follow.) And the Bible states clearly that God wants us to be happy. So why wouldn’t he/she help?

Delight thyself also in the Lord: he shall give thee the desires of thine heart – Psalm 37:4

Romans 15:13 promises that God will fill believers with “joy and peace in believing,” allowing them to abound in hope even through tribulations. 

Perhaps the tribulations spoken of in Romans are those opportunities God was describing to Joan in Evan Almighty!

May you never miss a message or an opportunity in life!

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