I Think I'm Hearing Voices

By Paul Roberts

Let’s see. Which one of the voices in my head should respond to in my blog today? 

Henri Nouwen continues to intrigue me with statements like “If teaching means providing man with enough academic weapons to outdo his fellow man, to make more money, to have a better career, and more esteem in his neighborhood, we had better start asking ourselves if there is any word from God that supports this approach.” (Creative Ministry) Is that what my career in education was about?

But Julia Cameron has had some gems recently as well: “It is my belief that we are as a species evolving toward something better, not worse, and that writing is one of the primary ways we are doing it.” “We write because something ‘touches’ us. We write because we want to ‘touch’ someone else. We write to ‘get in touch’ with the divine, or because the divine has somehow ‘gotten in touch’ with us.” (The Right to Write)

I started Robert Mulholland’s Invitation to a Journey this week, a title that would seem to fit my labyrinth vision board, and I read “...much contemporary Christian spirituality tends to view the spiritual life as a static possession rather than a dynamic and ever-developing growth toward wholeness…spirituality is a journey…”  

Of course, I love the way C.S. Lewis sneaks in some adult words of wisdom for me in his Narnia series for children. “The poor chap’s doing all he can already…certainly both Horses were doing, if not all they could, all they thought they could; which is not quite the same thing…” (The Horse and His Boy)

All of which takes me back a couple of weeks to the voice of Peter Enns writing about How the Bible Actually Works, subtitled “In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers - And Why That’s Great News.” I grew up believing that writing was supposed to have some wisdom in it, if only I would keep my eyes open. But I was the one that had to find it.

I’m pretty sure that Henri, Julia, Robert, Clive and Pete were not thinking of me when they wrote any of their books, but somehow their voices, their words, their ideas are all rattling around in there, which I think is a pretty cool deal. It also helps me be less concerned when I am writing about getting it all right. As Julia likes to say “Writing is a practice field. It teaches us how to do happy. It teaches us how to do brave. It teaches us how to do open, caring, loyal, resourceful, and yes, vulnerable.”

Just keep reading, Paul. Just keep writing. And make sure you share that writing with others now and then.

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 Who are the current voices you are listening to in your head?

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