Meditations from Zion

Many years ago, I remember hearing an audio tape from a Christian teacher entitled “How to hear God’s Voice.” I don’s remember much of the message actually, but I do remember how anxious I was to get there–to hear God’s voice.

Since then, I’ve figured out a couple of things.

First of all : listening. For a person like me who often has to talk just to figure out what she’s thinking, listening has never been my strong suit. Being a natural “over-lapper,” most people find it a challenge to get a word in edgewise. And then, as I age, I’ve found myself repeating myself, particularly if the signals I’m getting from the listener do not correspond with my expectations (in other words, let me say this another way and maybe you’ll agree with me then). None of these strategies work too well when communing with God.

Secondly, God’s voice doesn’t necessarily mean words. Having thought for so many years that I would “hear” instructions in well-formed sentences was truly a blind alley. Now, I’m specifically speaking of God’s voice in prayer not while reading sacred text. This discovery has come recently while practicing Lectio Divina with Psalm 29, which outlines a series of descriptions for the “voice of the Lord.” In some ways, it seems to contradict I Kings 19:11-13, in which Elijah learns of the “still small voice” of God. But I don’t think they are at odds at all. Simply put, the voice is in living things, both loud and whispers, whatever is needed by the listener.

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters,” (Ps 29:3) just as the Christ walked over the waters and called to Peter in the boat (Matthew 14:25-29) to come. For me, the waters have been the fray of my daily life, both good and bad, but always just a little chaotic and frenzied. I am discovering that the best way to rise above cacophony of life is in the silence within.

The voice of the Lord is always there.