June 2, Ordinary 9B (1 Samuel 3:1–10, 11–20)

In Samuel’s time, visions were not widespread and the word of the Lord was rare. The same could be said of our own time. As the young Samuel is learning to listen for God when he first serves in the temple under the tutelage of Eli, he mistakes God’s voice for the voice of his human teacher at first. This makes perfect sense.

We learn by listening to many voices in our lives: our teachers, our parents, our mentors, self-help books, best practices articles, TV shows, even TikTok. Not all voices guide us toward wisdom. There is a lot of traffic in our heads—crowds of opinions, uncertainties, fears, desires, plans, timelines, career options, regrets, frustrations, doubts. We distract ourselves from some of this busyness by watching funny cat videos or binge-worthy TV. We spend mental energy replaying events in our past and imagining scenarios in the future, so much so that we may not be fully aware of what’s happening right now.

In the midst of so much noise, how will we know when God is trying to get a word in edgewise? Like Samuel, we may spend time running to our human teachers, checking with them. What do they think would be best? Perhaps if I read one more article or one more book or talk to one more expert or look them up in an online video, perhaps then I’ll know what my next step is. Then I’ll know what my purpose is, how to live my life in a meaningful way. To which teachers should we listen? Like Samuel, in a way we are all learning to listen for God continually, even today. When Eli recognizes that God is speaking to Samuel and Samuel doesn’t even realize it, Eli’s advice is that Samuel go lay down. Go back to bed. Take a posture of invitation toward the still small voice of God. Tell God, “Speak.” And then listen.