Voices

Late one night, a burglar broke into a house he thought was empty. He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: "Jesus is watching you!" Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again.  "Jesus is watching you," the voice boomed again.  The burglar stopped dead again. He was frightened. Frantically, he looked all around. In a dark corner, he spotted a birdcage and in the cage was a parrot.  He asked the parrot: "Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?"  "Yes", said the parrot.

The burglar breathed a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: "What's your name?"  "Clarence," said the bird.  "That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"   The parrot said, "The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus."

There are voices all of our lives telling us how to live, what to say, what to wear, who to act like, how to be successful and how to make millions.    Not one of us would doubt for a minute the influence of other voices in our culture.  In the past twenty years, the study of how to compete for our attention created entire industries.  Direct mail has become a billion-dollar industry.  Write a catchy ad for television, and you could be an instant millionaire.  I wish I developed the “Got Milk.” ad.  Two words got the nations attention.  And it is all about making sure a voice was heard. 

Most of the voices competing for our attention want something.  They want your time.  They want your money.  They want your interest.  They want your thoughts.  They want your vote and some want as much as they can get from you.

But there is another voice, constant, strong, and unparalleled in its ability to bring hope.  The voice of Jesus!  In John 10:27 Jesus says, “My sheep know my voice…”  So, here is my gentle, non-finger pointing, reminder.  Listen.  I believe God has something to say to you, today.  Let me know what you heard.

Comments

[Chaplain Shirley Johnson]

Oh,...the memories. My mom's call was the two-fingers in the mouth WHISTLE. Every kid in the county would go home!
I am a full-time nurse and volunteer chaplain at our hospital in Mississippi. Thank you for the inspiration you give and know you have prayers coming from all over.

[Judy Schletty]

My mother and father would take turns yelling my name to come home for supper, too, when I was a child, who was more interested playing hide and seek, or midnight ghost with the neighborhood kids in St. Paul's Midway district which was just a stone's throw from Hamline University.
Nowadays, I hear more parents say that they don't let their kids play outside unsupervised. I guess we were pretty fortunate back in the 50's.
Sunday at Mass our pastor talked about the Good Shepherd, too. Our readings, Father said, give us a vision of the possibility of the reign of God. We have the vision to make it a possibility here because the seeds are there. Then, what was a voice of fear, becomes the voice of Jesus among us and hope. We recognize His voice and respond to his call.
I hope you all hear the voice of Jesus wherever you are.
God bless. Judy

[Dave Todd]

let this small voice say thank you chaplain, bless you and our outstanding troops, from a fortunate american brother.Awsome site thank for the lift,hope it spreads.