Samuel

There is this kid in Hebrew Scriptures, First Book of Samuel, if you are looking, and in his sleep he hears God calling him.  OK. Kids have lots of imagination.  But when he wakes up, his opening comment or prayer is, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”  How did this boy learn such a prayer.  I never learned to pray this way when I was a child.  I learned word prayers.  God was supposed to do the listening.  I learned to ask for stuff, say thank you, praise, but it was all my words and thoughts.  Plus I never thought of myself as “servant” of God.  God was supposed to serve me.  No wonder I had such a shallow spiritual life.  I think the prayer way I was taught was good enough for starters.  But why not trust that children can learn to stop paying attention to their minds, their agenda, and just listen without becoming all antsy?  Maybe less sugar and plastic products wrapping their food.  Who knows.  It is not so hard for me to stop talking about my agenda, but much harder to stop thinking about my agenda while someone else might want to talk.  I work on it. Keeping my mouth shut does not mean I am listening.  But I try on a daily basis.  Release from bondage to self is all I say many a time in my meditation.