The Voice

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

There is a voice that shakes the earth asunder

Not loud, but mild, whispering in the ear

One that pierces the soul like thunder

When God speaks and we inwardly hear

We are designed such that our eyes and ears are formed and positioned that we may see and hear what is in front of us.  We oft must turn our head and attention to see and hear what is spoken or sounded behind us.  Not so with the eyes and ears of our spirit.  It seems that our spiritual senses of seeing and hearing are able to envision things in every direction and to hear intonations forward, backward, upward, downward, and when we are properly attuned…………inward.

To hear things spoken to our soul often requires some filtering of the worldly din and strife.  Such temporal noise often has the effect of blocking that which would be heard or felt in our soul.  That which speaks to us temporally is usually loud, brash, garish, and intent on engaging our worldly passions.  But that which would speak to our soul, often, at least at first, comes softly, quietly, mildly, yet powerfully enough to shake our very being.

When the Spirit first speaks to us, our attention may be elsewhere; for there are indeed, so many distractions in the world, causing the Apostle Paul to say, “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.” (1 Corinthians 14:10) But as the voice continues to seek audience with our higher selves, and as we open ourselves to give it place in us, its warmth begins to fill us with its powerful presence.  We are grateful to a loving Father in Heaven who understands our mortal limitations and, up to a point, continues to speak to us until a connection is finally made.  However, if He continues to speak and we refuse to hear or, having heard, refuse to act, He will usually allow us to withdraw from Him – such are the rules of agency.

Paul continues his thought in the next verse, “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.”  In other words, it is like trying to interpret a foreign language that we do not know. 

Perhaps one of the greatest skills to learn in life is to acquire the language of the Spirit.  Then the next greatest skill might be to learn to listen for its quite voice and nuances.  And then, just perhaps, the greatest of all would be the skill, the attribute, the disciplined ability to act according to the instruction or message the Spirit whispers.

Such is the discussion in our meditative verse entitled, “The Voice” which prays that . .  .

May we have ears to hear the divine intonation

Echoing in the plain road and the low valley of life

Heeding its whisper in our mortal probation

And be deafened to the worldly din and strife.

The Voice

And it came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.  And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul— 

Book of Mormon   Helaman 5:29-33

There is a voice that shakes the earth asunder

Not loud, but mild, whispering in the ear

One that pierces the soul like thunder

When God speaks and we inwardly hear

This is a voice that will be heard

That speaks to our soul to its core

Spoken by God to declare His word

Of faith, hope and truth evermore

Once, twice it speaks again and again

Words that inspire, instruct, and plea

Too sacred for public expression or pen

But soulfully inscribed where none can see

This very voice speaks to us today

Not loud, but a whisper in the heart

A voice that keeps darkness at bay

A voice to inspire and set us apart

May we have ears to hear the divine intonation

Echoing in the plain road and the low valley of life

Heeding its whisper in our mortal probation

And be deafened to the worldly din and strife.

Larry Doyle Crenshaw