All Are Called But Few Choose To Listen

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All Are Called

“Many are called, but few are chosen” famously proclaims Matthew 22:14. Its modern counterpart, however, brings about a totally different connotation by stating that “All are called but few choose to listen”.

Just as the Sun shines on everyone, Spirit calls to each one of us all the time – guiding us, helping us, gently inviting us to awaken. Yet, it is difficult to wrap our minds that we are given aid all the time. After all, we don’t hear voices from the burning bush. Neither do we see angels flapping wings, visiting us in times of distress. So, what’s with us being guided and aided all the time? And why would we choose not to listen?

I think all that talk about burning bushes and booming voices and flying angels have distracted us. Why would Spirit want to frighten us, or add more stress to our already stressful lives? In fact, if we are looking for signs of Spirit guidance, we need to turn our attention to more gentle experiences: a delightful thought, a startling insight, an unexplained attraction to color, word, or sound.  

Remember To Ask, Choose To Listen

Let me share what I received once when I remembered to ask and listen.  I will invite you to see if you can recognize similar situations from your life, and perhaps share them here. I love hearing such stories.

It was a Friday afternoon and the end of a very long and stressful week. I had just received yet another email from a person whom I found exasperating and offensive and was wondering how to respond. I found myself upset – shall I write a strong and scathing response or shall I explain and try to placate. And then, I remembered to ask for guidance. I recall thinking in my head, “fine, you say you answer every time I ask no matter how mundane the question. So here I am asking: what shall I write in response to this email?” I didn’t breathe deeply, or sit on the ground cross-legged, or meditate, or anything of that sort. I just sat on my bed quietly determined “to choose to listen” this time. And that is when the amazing idea came: “Why write anything at all?” Indeed, why answer insignificant emails on a Friday afternoon when nobody will likely care or do anything until Monday, anyway. I remember laughing at the sheer audacity and simplicity of it – the Spirit Signature indeed…

Tatiana

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In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved.

A Course In Miracles, T-27.IV.1:1,