Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

God’s Three Voices

Last week I overheard a mother at a grocery store speak to her little girl who was talking loudly, “Audrey, let’s use our indoor voices, ok?” Audrey got the message and lowered the volume.

Children learn they have both indoor and outdoor voices and parents generally tell them which ones they should use in a given situation. In a recent reading at Mass Jesus said that his sheep would listen to his voice and follow him. Does God, then, also have an outdoor voice and an indoor one?

If God does, then I guess that God’s outdoor voice would probably be the whole of Creation: the stars, the planets, the laws of physics and chemistry, the movement of oceans and continents, and all the intricate, fundamental things too marvelous and too important to ignore.

God’s indoor voice might be the one he uses when he speaks to our consciences, when he engages our sensitivities to others and our desires to do good, or when we see something beautiful or meet a friend we haven’t seen for awhile. These can all be God’s indoor voice.

But there remains a third voice that God can use, the one Elijah heard as he stood at the opening of his cave and heard God speaking in the tiny sound of the breeze. God uses that voice to speak quiet words of forgiveness, acceptance, love, trust and encouragement. The Father used it when he told Jesus, “You are my Beloved and I am pleased with you.”

There are those who’ve never been able to hear the voice of God, know where it comes from or discover what it means. But if we do hear God’s voice and recognize it as God’s, then whatever voice God uses, we can not only be grateful to hear it, but listen for the invitation to come closer to the One who is speaking.