Recognise the Caller?
Ever been caught when you start talking
to someone on the phone, and are not sure who it is - or in that situation
where you start talking to someone, having an intimate conversation, and then
realise it is not who you thought it was?
Mistaken identity! Often when you
pick up the phone and first hear someone talking it can take a while before you
recognise who it is. However with our
Smart Phones, when we see who is calling before answering, we recognise the caller’s
voice straight away! Studies have shown
that if you do know who it is that you are about to speak to, you will recognise
their voice immediately. Identity
recognition is improved with more than one piece of information.
There was the story of the country
person who visited a friend in the city.
As they sat at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come, amidst all the
City noises, the country visitor said to his friend, “Did you hear that?”, to
which the city friend replied, “No, what?”.
The country person looked down and there was a little grasshopper
chirping under their seat. They sat back
down, when suddenly the city friend jumped up saying, “Did you hear that?” The country friend said, “No; What?” His City host leant down and picked up a coin
that someone had just dropped!
What are you listening for, and what are
you hearing? Which of the many noises, the
many “voices” talking in the world in which you live, do you hear and recognise? Your pre-conditioning and expectations will
set the background and strongly influence what you “hear” from the myriad of
“noises” going on around you.
Paul in the Bible some 2,000 years ago faced
a similar challenge. He said to the
Romans “For ever since the creation of the world (the Creator’s) invisible
nature and attributes...have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in
and through the things that have been made...” (The Bible: Romans chapter 1, verse 20) Many people’s lives are so consumed with meeting
daily necessities, and responding to material challenges that face each one of
us, that they do not put any time aside to think about issues beyond their current
physical environment. Those that do so
are potentially missing out on a whole extra-dimension of life. Jesus spoke about these issues giving us
“life more abundantly”. (The Bible: John chapter 10, verse 10)
For example, do you hear the voice of a
Creator in the “silence” of the ordered creation about us; do you hear the voice of Reason through the pages
of history trying to tell people how we should live and share? And do you hear the voice of God in the life
of Jesus Christ, who as a historical figure lived on this Earth some 2,000
years ago, and history tells us was crucified and rose from the grave. His influence still impacts the hearts and
minds of people today. Because if you
know him, you will recognise His voice as He talks to you through the multi-media
of life, and your communication with Him will be as real as the comforting
words of a friend who talks to you on the phone. If you know Him, you will recognise His voice!
We would like to invite you to contact us, or a
Church in your local Community, to discuss how you can recognise this voice which
“talks” to us through the many aspects of living. See Church Notices in this Paper for times of
Meetings at the Christian Israelite Church at 196 Campbell Street – we have
been in continuous service there since 1853 helping to meet the needs of people
in a changing society.
Rodney
Gray – Pastor Christian Israelite Church, 196 Campbell Street, Sydney (www.cichurch.com or visit
cichurch.blogspot.com.au)
