It is not always a good idea to tell people you can hear the voice of God. You really need to choose your audience. It can boomerang negatively. “Oh, man! Mr. Hear-God’s-Voice. Look at you now. I need a favor and you claim to have no money.” Or. “Oh, man! Mr. Hear-God’s-Voice. Laughing at a dirty joke.” Or. “. . . complaining about your wife/kids/job just like everybody else.” Letting others in on your spiritual doings can be a shaky thing. It is not always a bad thing to share, particularly if the motivation is to comfort or encourage. If your testimony is to brag on your spirituality then you set yourself up for criticism and you are certain to grow deaf in these matters.
Today, after a few chores, I realized I’d not prayed the rosary yet. I am not rigid in this habit but it is something I enjoy. It allows me to loosen my mind and give silence a chance to encroach in my inner parts. As I prepared to pray I decided to go to my favorite Rosary website and pray with the recording: http://www.comepraytherosary.org/. This site gives two options. You can pray individually from beginning to end with the audio and videos from the Holy Land. Or, you can join in a community that is already in progress. I usually choose the individual option because I don’t want to begin the prayer in the middle of the third decade. However, twice in the past few months, I have felt motivated by my inner voice to join the community prayer. Each time I came in the first few seconds of the prayer, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. I believe . . . .”
I find such a coincidences to be very pleasing. I knew in my heart this was a beautiful little clue or reminder from God’s Spirit that I am not alone. I have unseen company with me on my journey. I thought of this as I was waiting on the web site to come up knowing that I would, again, have the option to join in a prayer already in progress or start from the beginning in the individual option. I always resist trying to make an epiphany repeat itself. These things come from the Spirit. Sometimes I am not always sure what the point of the experience is. A little Hello from the unseen realm? A buddy-check from the Almighty? Sometimes they happen when life is difficult, like a journey from one dark corner to another. I purposely try not to ask for them or even expect them. It is like having an old fashioned pager. You can’t call out on it. It only receives.
As I was moving the cursor to the button that would start my individual prayer time I had a strong desire to go to the community prayer already in progress. I stopped for a moment and spoke to my heart, “I do not expect another coincidence like the two previous ones I enjoyed. I am simply going to enjoy this time in prayer hoping it pleases God and provides some efficacious intercession for the world I live in.” I held my beads in my left hand and clicked on the button to start the prayer time. Immediately, I heard, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. I believe . . . .”
Remarkable! Three times in a row in the past several months this has occurred. I don’t know why. I do not know what it means. I don’t believe God is saying anything to me other than, “I am with you. Do not fear. Trust in me.” To be honest most of the time I am more like Naaman who expected the man of God to act like a magician and wave his hand over his leprosy and, “Sha-zaam!” The miracle comes.
I have a load of miseries weighing down on me at present, any one of which would make the average person blanch and be tempted to despair. I would like a little Sha-zaam. Instead, God comes to me and softly and says, “I am with you. I will never leave you.” He never asks for my advice, even to ask my opinion on how he handles his part in my life. I certainly could come up with some ideas on how to make life a little easier for me. Until he asks my advice I will be content and, even excited, that he assures me I need not fear. I can trust him. He will never leave me.
Louis Templeman
