Hi everyone,

The other day I was out with the kids and something happened. The details around what happened or what was involved or which car was about to be hit aren’t important, but it was my reaction to the situation. When I saw what was happening, I yelled out in my fear/excitement/trepidation which may or may not (but probably not) helped in said situation to be avoided. Then we carried on with our day, with this weird awkward tension in the air.

“I wasn’t mad, you know,” I said, because honestly looking back I totally sounded mad. That’s the problem with my voice. I sound mad often, even when I’m totally not (or so my kids tell me at least). Try as I might, often what I say is misinterpreted because of my tone.

This is a problem for me, as I kind of speak for a living. But I need to learn that the message that I’m trying to communicate lies in not just the words that are said, but how they are said and in what tone they are delivered. It’s a lesson that I’ve realised waaay back after puberty decided to give me a voice like the one I have, and one that I continue to learn in pretty much every misunderstanding that happens in my conversations.

That our voice is not just mere utterances from our vocal chords, but it is speaking in ways that our hearers can understand and truly experience what we’re saying. And sometimes, we could even use words.

Here are the readings for next week:
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
And a video of them being read:

The importance of voice is what stands out to me in these texts this week. God’s voice, in particular. The Psalm lays out the sheer power of this voice, and what it can do and actually does when it is heard and sounded out. And then in Jesus’ baptism there is a voice from heaven declaring who Jesus is.

And that is a powerful voice.

Not powerful in that it’s intimidating. Or loud. Or angry sounding. But powerful in that it’s authoritative enough that we know it’s true, but also gentle enough that it doesn’t even break a bruised reed. It’s a voice that speaks to us, welcomes us, and reveals a gracious love that can lift us up out from under our burdens.

This is God’s voice. And while it might not be audible to us as we imagine it is throughout the stories we read in scripture where God interacts with people, but we are able to hear it, feel it, and experience it through creation, through our community, and through the care and compassion that is shown to us that moves us to share it with others.

Thank God for God’s voice, that we are able to follow it and hear the truth of who we are as God’s dearly beloved.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!