Listening Leads to True Obedience

It would seem that hearing is but a narrow channel pouring into the deep sea of doing. Yet the etymological dictionary taught me that the sharp distinction between hearing and doing is the result of human beings tearing asunder what belongs together.

For this is its lesson: the words listen and obey have the same root. In Latin, the word “obey” would not exist without the word “listen.” The word we translate into English as “obedience” literally means a “listening from below.” Obedience is a deep listening, a listening of…