TOPIC
Listening with Presence & Tenderness
PRAXIS
Week 1: Intentionally listen with presence and tenderness twice using this question: “How are you doing, really doing?”. Then practice Ignatian noting afterward, guided by the following prompts:
What was the quality of my presence or tenderness?
How was I empathetic (“feeling with”) or more sympathetic? What triggered disconnection between me towards the other person?
How did God and I “do it together,” or not? (i.e. how was I “in God” or “outside God?)
Week 2: Listen to Jean Vanier’s On Being interview & practice Ignatian noting using the reflection prompting questions that follow.
What part of the interview tugs at my heart and how so?
Is there anything about Jean Vanier's wisdom that can inform the way I listen to others? (i.e., his sense of tenderness, presence, vulnerability of God, or what to do with our pain, disfigurement or weakness)
How could I practice this wisdom in the way I listen to or accompany others?
Week 3: Intentionally listen with presence and tenderness twice & practice Ignatian noting afterward, guided by the same prompts above.
Week 4: Revisit any insight or experience from the previous weeks that you feel drawn to stay with longer. Ask God, “How did I trust or not trust your Spirit at work through myself? Practice Ignatian noting.