The Still, Small Voice of Love

"Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, "Prove that you are a good person." Another voice says, "You'd better be ashamed of yourself." There is also a voice that sways, "Nobody really cares about you," and another that says, "Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful." But underneith all these very often noisy voice is a still small voice that says, "You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you." That's the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.

That is what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us "my Beloved." (From Henri Nouwen: Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith.

The voices I hear on the phone are loud shrill tattle-tales over ones atheism, the other's mental illness, and finger pointing insinuations. Now they are tattling to He Who Must Be Obeyed with 'she said.' They are gifted at shifting blame onto me. Apparently listening without accusation is taken for approval.

It is the small still voice of love that I listen for in contrast to the cacophony on the telephony.