“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him (more) will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” (Lk 8: 16-18)
It is important, the Lord is telling me here, not only “that” I hear His word, but “how” I hear it. Even when I don’t quite understand it, He calls me to patient exploration of His divine wisdom, in humble and prayerful teachability. “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed” to a heart mindful of God’s daily little revelations. Whoever “has” this attentiveness, or “the ears to hear,” to him or her God’s wisdom and understanding “will be given.” Conversely, if I am inattentive to God’s voice in my life, even what I “seem” to have, – say, Orthodoxy in its beautiful rites and traditions, – “will be taken” from me for all practical purposes. That is to say, if I am just going through the external motions/words of our Tradition, without letting its light into my heart, then it will not make any real difference in my life, or in the lives of “those who enter” it.
So, “Let us attend!” – I say to all my senses today, that I may be open to whatever God has to teach me today, through the people, situations, and anything else He brings my way.
