“The voice of God is recorded by His people in Holy Scripture, by a community brought together by His voice. Scripture is our primary written witness of God’s words and accomplishments. Here we also discover what God is doing at this very moment and what He will bring about through time unto eternity. At the center of all Scripture is the Word of God, for the voice of the Lord comes to us as God the Word.” (Dynamis 1/2/2024)
“…beauty calls to us with the voice of God. God gives us beauty, not as His argument but as His offering—a gift that immerses us in something that allows us to touch hope, to taste healing, to tangibly encounter something opposite to disintegration and destruction. Where suffering has made God abstract and distant to us, where brokenness leaves us with unanswerable questions, beauty allows us to taste and see God’s presence as He breaks into the circles of our inmost grief to remake the broken world.” (Sarah Clarkson)
“Deep calls unto deep,” the Psalmist says (42:7). The sound of God echoes within us, because we are made in His image. The frequency of the voice of God calls forth a sympathetic sound within us. The Church teaches that bells are “icons of the voice of God.” In our prayers, it is possible to become lost in the words. It is import to remember to sing – and to do so often.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“St. Isaac the Syrian said, “The highest form of prayer is to stand silently in awe before God.” As the story of Elijah on Mt. Horeb teaches, it takes silence to hear the voice of God. It takes stillness to notice that it is the Lord Jesus knocking at the door. It takes spiritual quiet to open the portal of our hearts to let Him come in to dwell with us. The Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God” (…Psalm 46:10/45:11 LXX). In the same vein, St. Isaac the Syrian said, “Love silence. This will make you illumined in God like the sun and deliver you from the illusions of ignorance. Silence unites you to God Himself”...let our study motivate us to seek the stillness of the soul and silence of the heart. Then by God’s grace, we will discover that the Lord Jesus Christ has been waiting for just that kind of peace to quietly call us to deeper and closer relationship with Him.” (Fr. Basil)
“…we have our conscience within us as the voice of God. The good and bad aren’t defined on the basis of the circumstances of any particular era, but have to do with whatever helps us to love, whatever it is that shows us truth, whatever leads to or prevents our separation from God and from other people. The voice of God doesn’t change depending on social factors. Nowadays we’ve stifled our conscience, so how can we explain to others, particularly those younger than us, what’s good and what’s evil?... “Within the heart is the antenna for the voice of God. We keep our heart open and pure as much as we can, to keep the antenna receptive…We are made in God’s image and likeness. His being, His heart becomes our heart to the extent that we are capable of opening ourselves to His divine life.” (Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos, Albert S. Rossi)
Comments