Some friends sent me some text messages, reminding me of something important: that God can be heard in the temple. And even more interesting, that my body is the temple.
My friends, Samuel and Paul, mentioned that they also sent the message to you. Did you get it?
In other words, you and I can hear God in the temple of our body.
In everyday life, we can interpret that listening “outside” the temple is listening to others. And listening “inside” the temple is listening to ourselves.
Many of us were taught from childhood to listen to trusted grown-ups and to obey them. This is a very important factor, that when we do not find an equilibrium with learning to listen WITHIN our temple (within ourselves), it can leave us out of balance.
We can understand the invitation that Jesus, the carpenter, makes us in this way:
Listen inside the temple, that is, inside yourself, because that is where God personally calls you by name. (That’s what happened to my friend Samuel).
Easy, right?
Not necessarily.
God is found both outside of us and within us. There is no place where God is not. What this means is that we can also hear God within our temple, within us.
It all starts with the willingness to do it, with wanting to listen to your interior.
With so many demands, it is normal that in our daily lives, it is not always easy to dedicate time to our interior life. It is in our interior life where we keep everything we think, do, feel, and do not say. It is where we place what we want and do not seek. Here we place what we do not know how or cannot articulate.
And the greatest surprise is that by paying attention to our interior, it is possible to discover the loving whisper of God’s presence.
How did it go for you with your New Year’s resolutions?
In the previous post, I mentioned how for several years I felt that I was failing in my resolutions, because they were not mine, I copied them from others. I had to pause and reflect on what was no longer working, and what I wanted in order to define my own resolutions.
When we have not learned how to listen to our interior, we do not know how or where to start. Our external world is so stimulating that it easily silences the voice within us.
And you, do you know how to listen to your interior?
By listening to your interior, you can also listen to the divine love within you. God created you and knows you, so if you pay attention within yourself, it is very possible that you will begin to identify what only you can distinguish as your own desires.
What do you really want?
Finding God INSIDE your temple, within yourself, is a very loving, personal, and liberating experience. When each of us can do this, we discover that by listening to God, we can also listen to what is inside ourselves.
I now share with you a way to seek closeness with God, and begin or deepen your listening within your temple (within you). This guide can help you define your resolutions for this coming year.
God is already in the temple, and Jesus is already inside you. Have you discovered this?
Thanks for your private messages. I continue welcoming them. If you like, you can also leave them below.
Marisol
P.S. You can also read the text messages that my friends sent me in the readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B.
