One of my favorite meditations is lectio divina, or sacred reading. I like to meditate on the day's Gospel reading and evaluate whether or not I have acted according to Jesus' values.

I recently meditated on a line from Matthew's Gospel:

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. (Matthew 6:7-8)

I imagined myself asking Jesus how to pray. The conversation went a little like this:

"Jesus, tell me how to pray."

"Well Bob, all you need--"

"I mean, I don't want words to memorize--anyone can memorize prayers. Words can be little more than pious nonsense. I want prayer to mean something, to make me feel whole."

"Right. I get it. This is how you should--"

"Peace, that's what I'm looking for, Jesus. You know what I'm saying? And understanding. Peace and understanding. But most of the prayers I know, they just seem like recipes, and I worry, am I saying the right words? Did I forget something? If I leave out the right word, or if I say 'your" instead of 'thy,' will my prayer be ineffective?"

"Prayer is never ineffective, Bob. This is what you gotta do--"

"Right! So how should I do it?"

"Well if you would shut up and listen, I'll tell you!"

Yes--in my imagination, Jesus yells at me. I provoke him. That's when I realized: I babble. And when I babble on and on and on, I will not learn anything. So how can I make sure I don't babble? Here are some ways:

Enter every conversation with humility. Every person I converse with has something valuable to say. I need to remember that It is more important to listen to them and their concerns than it is for me to state my opinion.
Be grateful. Conversation is the gift in which people offer themselves. I want to accept that gift with gratitude.
Embrace poverty. When I relinquish my opinions about what the other person is saying, I find that it is harder for me to be judgmental and easier to be compassionate.
Keep an open mind. A closed mind prevents love from flowing. And when I let love flow, I can be kind.
Trust in the person's goodness. Sometimes, despite my best efforts, many (most?) of my conversations end up in arguments. I need to remember that even though I may disagree with another person, they are still a person worthy of dignity, respect, and love.

Humility, gratitude, poverty, openness, and trust--these are they keys to making a conversation into a spiritual exercise. These keys will unlock my ears so that I can be attentive to other people. And if I am attentive to other people in conversation, I will learn how to be attentive to God in prayer.