I was working with a group of preachers this morning to help them find their voices. On a regular basis, preachers use their voices publicly. But as these preachers recognized today, the voice they use publicly isn't always their real voice--their own voice. Your voice--my voice--is deeply spiritual. Your voice arises out of who you are--your own God-breathed originality. Your voice is different from the words you may speak. Your voice is the living witness to all that makes you who you are; it comes directly out of the experiences that have shaped you, the truth that's real to you, your intimate connection with the Divine. It is the true you God's made you to be.
If you know your distinctive, God-breathed voice, you're on your way to owning the gift you have to offer for the healing of the world.
The trouble is, our voice is usually hijacked by the voices in our heads that come from parents, older siblings, friends, enemies, religious leaders, affinity groups, and so on. The voice we usually present to the world is the voice we think the world around us wants to hear.
If you want to live with integrity, to live as God desires you to live, you must find your own voice--peel back the masks we wear, strip away the falsehoods, stop the charades. Only then can you live as the unique person you are meant to be.
Finding your voice is critical if you want to live a more focused, strategic, purposeful life--a life aligned with the God who made you--and to make a real difference in the world.
Intention: Today I will begin my search for my one, authentic God-breathed voice--so that I may live a more focused, compassionate, purposeful life.
EXTRAS . . .
Here's a witness to a young Indian woman who has found her voice and is leveraging it for good:
Pranitha Timothy: a voice for the voiceless
Here are two good pieces that can help you find your voice: