Yesterday, as I listened to my fellow students introduce themselves, I was struck by the variety and beauty of their voices. There are a lot of southerners in my class, and there's no accent in the world more soothing to me (I thank Miss Lynn for that). There's a woman from West Africa, and if she could read the charts and data in one of my texts, I'd actually enjoy the experience (raw data gives me hives). There are deep bass voices and soft sopranos. It's gorgeous.
A college friend came back from years abroad sounding Scottish! Bizarrely, it suited perfectly, and was a delight.
At the end of Oasis Ministry's spiritual director training, I told my classmates that when I started, I felt like I'd totally lost my voice, and they helped me find it again. A particularly dear friend told me that it was apparent to him all along, I had just stopped being able to hear it.
Thank God for each of our voices. God spoke us into being, and our own voices must be part of our work as co-creators with God. I pray that I can learn to respect my own, to celebrate others', and to listen for God's. I pray for the wisdom and compassion to sit with those who have been silenced.
As you listen to the music of the voices around you, what are you hearing this week? May I pray about any of it with you?
Meditation on This Week's Gospel
15 hours ago
How lovely. Please pray for Ken's voice, as it starts to come back. It's spotty and scratchy and rough, and often goes back to a whisper. But it's coming back slowly, and that's a beautiful sound!
ReplyDeleteAlready on it, MB.
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