In a Life Group it is the Lord who speaks, the Lord who listens, and the Lord who responds (4 mins)

Transcript: So the group task was to practice two-way attention and to listen to what is arising within as we listen to what is coming from without. And it’s more about, what are the thoughts and affectional states that are arising as I listen, and giving attention to what’s arising as primary, rather than to what’s being said, the words that are being spoken – the person we’re listening to. Because when someone is speaking and we are listening, we are filtering that through our own states. So we’re not really hearing them. We’re looking to hear what the Lord is saying through the contact. And that’s not necessarily the literal meaning of the words a person is speaking. So it can be, just as an example, things that people are speaking as I listen, that track back to what I’ve read in the reading in some way. That’s kind of an awareness I would hold. Like how does what I’m hearing fit with what the Lord has provided through the reading? And how is what is being expressed illustrating that? Because that’s what I see as important. I mean, people’s work is important, but it’s their work. It’s not my work. So what I have to be across is what is related to my work. And then when meeting in the group, it has to be what is for the group as a whole to hear. And it’s not like, you know for sure, that this is it, but you have to sort of cultivate a sensitivity and trust that what’s brought is what’s needed. That’s all you can do. So one way of thinking about it is like, we all really are a living question. We carry these questions deep in our hearts. When someone speaks, and I’m in a state of being attentive and wanting to hear from the Lord, it’s not about hearing them, it’s about hearing the Lord, then what is spoken enters into the questions I carry that leads my journey in this work. And then all I can share is what arises out of the questions I carry. Then there’s this remarkable thing called a dialogue that takes place. Now, proprium to proprium will never move in an agreed dialogue unless both are getting some sort of advantage from it. So the miracle is that really what’s happening is that we listen for the Lord and it is the Lord who speaks, it’s the Lord who listens and it’s the Lord who responds. And that happens when we are giving attention and willing to lay aside ourselves and allow what is rising to become manifest in the group. And that is a form of where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. And it is also an example of holy supper because the goods and truths that are expressed are the Lord in the midst passing between people, feeding, nurturing, supporting, all of that. So that is charity in a living form. So yes, it’s Round two, but it’s come out of the work in Round one. So these elements come from Round one, from different places, different people’s work. And the process of listening in Round one provides what’s needed for Round two. And that is the, in terms of the reading, that is the lamb that is roasted and prepared for the feeding of the group. And there will be aspects of liberation that occur in that process and aspects of damnation. Because it is both – there is no innocence implanted without temptation. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.