April 25 ,2010 • The Season of Easter • Alleluia!
Hearing the Voice
Were you ever in a train station or airport when the following announcement was made? “Wfhg gflk japboghf ligeebxkb iuyt a jgerwmixvt.” (No, I don’t know how to pronounce that either...but that’s the point -- the voice was garbled and you had no clue what was being said.)
Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” So how clearly do we hear Jesus’ voice? It’s hard to follow if we can’t understand. I might be wrong, but I think that people don’t have a hard time following Jesus these days. I think the challenge is that they don’t hear him clearly. If we could hear, we would eagerly follow.
For a moment, let’s consider things that impede our hearing:
• Physical hearing loss.
Possible solution? A hearing aid.
(Question: if we can’t quite understand what God wants
us to hear, who did God put into our lives to be our
“hearing aids?” Do we seek them out to help us hear?)
• Foreign accent.
Possible solution? Slow down, get closer to
the person to see him/her as he/she speaks.
(Question: if we can’t understand the “divine accent”
how can we slow ourselves down, and make more
time to listen to God in a closer way?)
• Other noise.
Possible solution. Ear plugs, or the “off switch”.
Sometimes we can turn off the other noises (TV, radio,
computer, ipods, etc); Other times we just have to block
the noise.
(Question: where can we create quiet places in our day
so we can pray -- not just talking to God, but listening
as well?)
• We’re talking too much ourselves.
Unless we’re quiet, we’re
rarely going to hear what anyone else has to day.
(Question: Do I make quiet time in my prayer just for
listening in my heart?)
Shhhhh... Jesus is speaking to you now. Can you hear him?
