That long-ago night is vividly present to me now, but far more vivid than the pain and fear is the voice of my brother, who accompanied me there. Through the waiting, intake, more waiting, tests, consultations, his calm quiet voice was a life-giving presence. It was a voice that said: 鈥淚鈥檓 here; you鈥檙e not alone; somebody cares about you; there鱿鱼视频app a way through.鈥�
A voice can be like that. Perhaps that鱿鱼视频app because it echoes God, who comes to us, often, as a voice.
Recently I watched a new mother speak playfully to her baby, whose whole body was immediately engaged and attentive. This summer I watched our shepherd, Julio, speak to the sheep, who trust him and follow his steady voice, and grow in his care. It鱿鱼视频app the type of voice we use with those we love, and they interpret it instantaneously, viscerally. It鱿鱼视频app the voice of intimate encounter.
There is power in a voice, a power that鱿鱼视频app unique.
It鱿鱼视频app a power that can be troubling, when launched against us. Many, many voices come at us in our cacophonous world. The director of A Beautiful Mind uses visual images to help moviewatchers feel, a little, the power of voices: the tangled, confused web of voices that torment the mathematician with the beautiful mind. A bewildering distraction of voices jangles around and inside us all. Where, in all this chaos, could God鱿鱼视频app voice be? How can we possibly find it?
The other side of God鱿鱼视频app silence is God鱿鱼视频app voice. As we learn to bear the silence of God, we begin to discover God鱿鱼视频app voice.
鈥淢y sheep know my voice,鈥� Christ assures us (John 10:27). There is one Voice among the many voices. And we know it; we recognize it. How could we not? We鈥檙e made of it. Adam and Eve hear God鱿鱼视频app voice calling in the garden, even though they鈥檝e hidden in shame (Genesis 3:8). Mary Magdalene sees the risen Christ but doesn鈥檛 recognize Him; when she hears His voice, she knows Him as her own dear Lord (John 20:17).
God鱿鱼视频app Word springs forth from God鱿鱼视频app eternal silence, says St. Ignatius of Antioch.
God鱿鱼视频app is the voice of insistent desire. That voice may come out of the bright blue sky. It may well come in a state of emergency, as my brother鱿鱼视频app voice did for me. Moses, who sees a bush burning, hears the voice of the God of Israel speaking His love for His captive people.
To hear God鱿鱼视频app voice is a struggle 鈥� because it鱿鱼视频app a call. Silence helps us pay attention to God speaking all the time. Being in silence teaches us God鱿鱼视频app voice.
Hearing the voice of God is not 鈥渉earing voices.鈥� Even Joan of Arc, who readily heard her 鈥渧oices,鈥� had to listen to the silence of God. Yet, an intermediary might speak God鱿鱼视频app voice. God鱿鱼视频app messengers in the Bible are called angels (Greek angelos means messenger).
In the Book of Tobit, Tobias鈥� eyes don鈥檛 recognize Raphael the Archangel, but his ears hear Raphael鱿鱼视频app words offering divine guidance and healing. In Luke鱿鱼视频app Gospel (1:28), Mary hears herself hailed by Gabriel the Archangel and told that God鱿鱼视频app favour rests on her.
Whether through another or directly, God鱿鱼视频app voice can be heard, even amidst the noisy chaos, even when we can鈥檛 see anything at all. Peter鱿鱼视频app eyes and mind have no idea what鱿鱼视频app going on at the top of Mount Tabor, but in the fog his ears hear the voice of the Father claiming Jesus (Mark 9:7).
God鱿鱼视频app voice brings intimacy, but also invitation and mission. It can unsettle us and give an urgent task. Out of the fog of the Transfiguration, it exhorts: 鈥淟isten to Jesus.鈥� Even when it comes in blindness, as with St. Paul en route to Damascus, it urges action 鈥� or rather, promises to bear fruit: 鈥淓nter the city鈥� (Acts 9:6). Gabriel鱿鱼视频app voice speaking to Mary calls her to the 鈥測es鈥� that will bring salvation. Raphael鱿鱼视频app words to Tobias invite action 鈥� to his relief 鈥� and out of the action comes healing greater than he asked.
鈥淢y sheep know my voice,鈥� but we may be less familiar with our own. We fear to speak, or speak haltingly or foolishly as St. Peter did, or are silenced in our arrogance as St. Paul was.
God鱿鱼视频app voice calls out our voice. He doesn鈥檛 force us to speak, but in the silence and the struggle to hear, He teaches our voice. Learning our own true voice is part of listening, and part of coming to life.