Sing: I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto Me and rest;
Those are powerful words from a popular hymn. Here’s a question: how do you hear the voice of Jesus? Through scripture?
Through music?
Through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist?
Through nature?
Well, in the readings there is the image of people being like sheep, as Jesus mentioned in the gospel. He pities them for they are without a shepherd. A shepherd is important because sheep follow the shepherd because they “head the shepherd’s voice.” But notice that in the first reading, God is upset, because there are shepherds who mislead the sheep. Mislead?
I would say that there are forces, out there, whose voices we listen to . . . which lead us into odd directions. Voices that say, “You are not good enough.”
“You are too fat.”
“You need to shape up.”
“You need to be more productive at work.”
Did you catch the phrase at the beginning of the gospel, when Jesus tells the disciples to “come away by yourself and rest awhile?” The gospels are filled with passages of Jesus who went off by himself . . . to be alone, to pray, to be quiet. Of course he was engaged with people, but I believe that he was good at it because he could “step away” from people regularly and get re-charged.
I would say that one of best ways for us to ‘hear the voice of Jesus’ is to be quiet. That is, in silence we can best hear God. It is not so much what we say but rather like the 2nd Austin Powers movies, when Austin Powers tells his son, Scott . . . “Zip it.”
Of all the aspects that Jesus invites us to do: “Come follow me,” “Take this and eat” “Turn the other cheek” . . . to be quiet or silent is one of the hardest. Think of how much you have already been bombarded today with noise . . . the TV, the radio on as you drove here, music plugged into your ears, and now this priest going on and on about being quiet.
Research has now proven that we are hugely over-dosed with inescapable distractions of technology. The average American now consumes every day:
63 gigabytes of content
more than 150,000 words
over 13.6 hours of media use . . . every day
And research has also proved that regular times of quiet, or meditation:
lowers one’s blood pressure
lowers one’s stress hormones (called cortisol)
increases one’s immune response
improves one’s emotional stability
improves sleep quality
enhances creativity
Isn’t that amazing? Science is finding out, what Jesus described more than 2,000 years ago.
I believe that most of us are afraid of silence. That is, it feels odd not to have noise all the time, or some commotion, or some distractions. With noise going on all the time, we don’t have to look at ourselves and deal with our corrupted ego, slippery impulses, well-masked fears, unending needs or secret desire.
Summer is a time for many of us to unplug ourselves and respect the quiet of nature. In a few weeks, I am going up to Canada again, for my annual canoe trip into the quiet and peacefulness of nature. We won’t have a phone, a radio or even a watch . . . and it is always a bit disconcerting at first. But then . . . pure joy to have silence.
Well, you don’t have to go up to the Boundary Waters to find silence:
turn off the radio for some time when you are traveling
don’t rush to turn on the TV, right away, when you have an evening free
don’t keep checking your smart phone for messages or texts
escape from the family or friends for a few minutes
be with others without talking . . . i.e. “zip it” and listen.
stop by the church occasionally to simply sit quietly
get up earlier, or stay up later, just to sit and be quiet.
There are many practices for being quiet and hearing God’s voice . . .
some mindful breathes
closing one’s eyes
writing in a journal
just sitting and observing nature . . . in full bloom.
Do yourself a favor this week. Create a time to be quiet. Simply sit with God. Not asking for anything, not giving God suggestions . . . just sit and hear the voice of Jesus
Sing
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down, Thy head upon My breast."
I came to Jesus as I was, Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place, And He has made me glad.