Many years ago, I read an article called "Lent is for listening." The title got my attention because I'd always thought of the season in different terms.

Of course, there is the tradition of "giving something up" for Lent, a tradition that tends to dominate popular thought. And while I did think of Lent in terms of sacrifice, I also thought about it as a time to pay special attention to the sins and failures that keep me from God. I'd never thought of Lent as a time for listening.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus takes Peter, James and John aside for a time apart from the other followers. "And he was transfigured before them," we're told, "and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses."

Peter, James and John are thrilled and terrified, and offer to make tents so that Jesus, Moses and Elijah might be comfortable while they are together. "Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them," the passage continues. "From the cloud came a voice, 'This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.'"

Listen to him. This is the message of the Gospel this Second Sunday of Lent. Listen to him. It would seem that Lent is indeed for listening. We are called to listen to the voice of Jesus in our lives, and perhaps to turn down the volume on all the other voices that speak to us and influence us. If we are to sacrifice, it is to "give up" the things that keep us from hearing and responding to God's voice, and from experiencing the grace and the blessings that God promises us.

I've given up many things during Lent over the course of my life. I've given up chocolate and peanut butter and alcohol. I even tried to give up raising my voice at my children. I've never actually chosen to add something to my life during Lent, something like listening. Or, put differently, I've never tried giving up listening to other voices more than I listen for the voice of God. I've never given up noise.

There are many voices I want to hear and please in my life. Parents and children, coaches and teachers, employers and employees, friends and spouses and partners --- I want to please them all. I want to be faithful to them and meet their expectations, and I spend a lot of time and energy listening to these voices and trying to detect whether they are happy with me or not.

I don't always do the same with God. I don't spend enough time away from noise, in silence, trying to hear or see or otherwise detect what God is trying to tell me about how I can better align my life with God's grace and love.

Lent is for listening --- listening that we might experience the love of God more consistently. Maybe this year I will take some steps to give up noise and embrace silence. After all, I can't hear the voice of Jesus if I'm tuned in to all the other voices in my life. I can't hear God if I'm not listening.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa. He may be reached at bptidings@yahoo.com.