“If we really want to be a countercultural people,” Richard Foster remarked in his final talk given two years ago this week, ​“I suggest first of all that we simply ​‘shut up and listen.’ We listen to our neighbor. We listen to the angry. We listen to the fearful. We listen to the bruised and the broken. We listen, simply listen.” 

On Saturday, my wife and I participated in a protest. We went to stand alongside the marginalized and to listen.

It was different than watching the news, during which I often feel detached from Jesus and from those I’m watching. In person, I felt more present with Jesus and with those around me. Compassion and understanding seem to grow best up close.

Just before leaving, we struck up a conversation with an African American man named Kenneth. His eyes overflowed with the love of God, and we shared a mutual sense of being for one another. My wife and I walked away from the exchange hopeful and encouraged, the day now stored in our memory with a face and a name. 

Nothing beats being with others in-person, but there are still effective ways to listen virtually.

Renovaré has now hosted several webinars, and each time I’m surprised at how much I feel I’m ​“with” the panelists, though they are several time zones away. 

On June 23, theologian Willie Jennings, pastor and musician Donn Thomas, and Renovaré President Chris Hall join Carolyn Arends for a webinar titled Finding Resilience When There’s No End in Sight: What Can We Learn from Harriet Tubman? Planned before the death of George Floyd, it’s a discussion that is now even more timely. We hope you’ll join us.

May the Holy Spirit empower you to listen and love well,