Shepherds train their sheep to be attuned to their voice and their voice only. The shepherd could walk away from the enclosure, calling his sheep, often by their individual names, and they would follow him. His sheep were so attuned to his voice that they would not follow the voice of another shepherd, even if that shepherd tried to trick them by imitating the voice of their own shepherd. How do we discern the unique cadence of God’s voice among all the voices that surround and beckon us? We have several principles that come to us from Jesus, scripture, and the deep wells of our Christian tradition that can help us.
• The voice of God is recognized both in whispers and in soft tones, even as it is recognized in thunder and storms.
• The voice of God is recognized wherever one sees life, joy, health, color, and humor, even as it is recognized wherever one sees dying, suffering, conscriptive poverty, and a beaten-down spirit.
• The voice of God is recognized in what calls us to what’s higher, sets us apart, and invites us to holiness, even as it is recognized in what calls us to humility, submergence into humanity, and in that which refuses to denigrate our humanity.
• The voice of God is recognized in what appears in our lives as “foreign,” as other, as “stranger,” even as it is recognized in the voice that beckons us home.
• The voice of God is the one that most challenges and stretches us, even as it the only voice that ultimately soothes and comforts us.
• The voice of God enters our lives as the greatest of all powers, even as it forever lies in vulnerability, like a helpless baby in the straw.
• The voice of God is always heard in a privileged way in the poor, even as it beckons us through the voice of the artist and the intellectual.
• The voice of God always invites us to live beyond all fear, even as it inspires holy fear.
• The voice of God is heard inside the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even as it invites us never to deny the complexities of our world and our own lives.
• The voice of God is always heard wherever there is genuine enjoyment and gratitude, even as it asks us to deny ourselves, die to ourselves, and freely relativize all the things of this world.
It would seem that God’s voice is forever found in paradox.[1]
[1] Excerpt from Ron Rolheiser’s reflection: “Searching for God Among Many Voices”, July 2024.