The God of heaven hears the voices of the unheard.
The voices of the marginalized.
The voices of the oppressed. Often misrepresented. Frequently dismissed. Repeatedly mocked.
Easily discredited. Brutally dehumanized. Systematically silenced.
I lean into the text and hear God whisper to me: I am listening. Are you?
“As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard.”
Lamentation is a declaration that things aren’t as they should be. Hannah was barren and broken-hearted about not having a child. Year after year, her habits of lament brought her before the Lord in the sanctuary—weeping, watching, and waiting. Her husband attempted to make up for the lack by giving her double portions during the time of sacrificing to the Lord. Her husband’s second wife mocked her for not having a child. To make matters worse, Eli the priest confused her worship and weeping with being drunk with wine. Hannah was hurting. Hannah was honest with her pain. And yet Hannah was hopeful that God would look upon her affliction, remember her, and give her a son.
If I am honest, I am disturbed by everyone that surrounds Hannah. Is anybody listening to her? Hannah is mocked. Hannah is inconsolable. Hannah is misunderstood. Hannah was “speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard” (1 Samuel 1:13). Yet the God of heaven heard. The God of heaven hears the voices of the unheard. The voices of the marginalized. The voices of the oppressed. Often misrepresented. Frequently dismissed. Repeatedly mocked. Easily discredited. Brutally dehumanized. Systematically silenced.
I lean into the text and hear God whisper to me: I am listening. Are you?
Lamentation includes listening. Listening is a habit. Leadership is predicated upon listening. If Hannah had a sacred habit of lamenting, I must also cultivate a sacred practice of listening. As leaders in our friendships, in our workplaces, in our communities, in our worship spaces, listening is critical for the flourishing of all humankind. The three circles of listening are listening to self, listening to God, and listening to others. Without listening we end up limiting. We limit God’s expansive imagination about ourselves and about who others are becoming. Without listening we stop short of who we could be and who others could become. Without listening we truncate lamenting. And yet, lamentation leads to liberation. God extends to us an invitation to listen, privately and publicly.
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