October 2023

Reflection

In his 50s, Andy Warhol, an artist who lived his adult life at the center of American pop culture, worried he spent life as a spectator and let it pass by him.  Since watching the Netflix documentary, The Warhol Diaries, a few weeks ago, Warhol’s reflection clung to me. I, too, have pondered the same concern in moments about my own life.  I ask if I have done enough.  Have I acted in ways that have made a difference in people’s lives? Where have I spent my time and why?  Have I just been a spectator in life? I think this worry arises from a fear that what we have done ultimately is not relevant, does not matter.

Then I think about the beautiful discussion at our last dinner gathering,  wrestling with the Letter of James' instruction “to be quick to listen and slow to speak.”  We discussed how Jesus confronted the mob accusing the women of adultery by first stopping to listen. (John 8:1-11)  We debated if his actions made a difference with all of those in the crowd. As we closed, we prayed for approaching the world with wonder.

Cole Arthur Riley, writes about wonder in her book, This Here Flesh, 

“Wonder requires a person not to forget themselves but to feel themselves so acutely that their connectedness to every created thing comes into focus. In sacred awe, we are a part of the story.”

For me, listening requires wonder.  We listen because of caring.  We listen because of curiosity.  We listen because of wonder. We listen because of love. When we listen, we are present with the person(s) to whom we are listening.  In that moment, each person understands what it means to be valued.   I believe to listen is to be present for one another and to be present is to live love.

In these moments, I do not share Warhol’s worry, because to be present with another is not to be a spectator but to be active in life by demonstrating loving one another in the simplest ways.