answer the call
We are so tuned into all the noise that emanates from the plethora of technological gadgetry available to us that it is small wonder we seldom find a moment’s peace. Silence and solitude are becoming increasingly rare commodities and the noise has become so loud and pervasive that one cannot begin to think!
But no matter how loud the noise, the reality is that God is speaking to us. It is like the philosophical question: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it,, does it make a sound?” It is a question concerning reality and our perception of it. Rene Descartes proposed “Cogito ergo sum – I think, therefore I am.” Unfortunately, for many of us, Descartes got it backwards, for one cannot think one’s self into existence. He should have said “I am, therefore I think.” To think presupposes the reality of one’s prior creation and existence. To think means to use one’s mind, to search for understanding, to seek out truth. To think requires a willingness to listen with silent stillness to hear the voice of God.
God exists and he speaks to each of us every day. He speaks to us in so many ways; all we have to do is (to paraphrase Timothy Leary) “turn off, tune in, and listen up.” We may never know when or in what voice God will speak to us. We may hear His voice anytime and anywhere. It may be a message on a billboard as you pass it by or it may be a word or a sentence that you read in a book, magazine, or newspaper. You may hear God speak through a stranger, a chance encounter, a conversation overheard or a discussion over dinner with family and friends.
The truth is that God is seldom silent while we seldom listen. God is calling. Ring! Ring! Why not answer His call?
