Article August 2, 1913 Issue

THAT "STILL SMALL VOICE"

STELLA DUTTON.

Among the many revelations which Christian Science is bringing to light is the truth that direct communication with God, instead of being a miraculous occurrence experienced by a select few and during a limited period of time, always has been and always will be the privilege of each and all of God's children. The Bible is full of instances where God talked with men, where He led them by His voice and communed with them as consciously as man now communes with man. The inspired Word, found in the Bible, is recognized by humanity as the truth communicated by God to man, and He speaks now, to those who are ready to hear, in the same way that He communed with the holy prophets thousands of years ago; for He would not create children and provide no means of communication with them. But because of the man-made law that the auditory nerve is necessary for the conveyance of thought from one mind to another, and because men have become so accustomed to the belief that vocal sound is voice, they have come to the conclusion that God's voice is silent.

It is only thought which is really heard, and it is the understanding or mentality which hears it. The belief of a material medium of hearing has no more power of transmitting thought than an inanimate piece of wood; and as man rises above the belief that there is intelligence in matter, he will recognize the truth that "the medium of hearing is wholly spiritual" (Science and Health, p. 214). Every thought which strengthens our faith in good and lessens our fear of evil, which wrestles with and overcomes hatred, resentment, envy, or any other belief that "worketh abomination," and imparts comfort or inspires with love, which lifts us from the depths of sorrow and turns us gently away from material things to spiritual, is that "still small voice" which says to mortal mind, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

The thought which a person is admitting into his consciousness is the voice he is listening to. Now, humanity has listened so long to the voice of error, is so constantly admitting thoughts of discord, sin, sickness, and death, that it does not realize that Truth's idea is always knocking for admittance, is always yearning to be heard, just as when it was voiced through Christ Jesus, who said, "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word." No one would think of going into a noisy factory and expect to hear above the roar of the machinery the singing of the birds outside; neither can one hope to hear the sweet utterances of Spirit while his consciousness is confused with the noise of human discord. We read in Science and Health that "Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent" (p. 89), and through the study of Christian Science we are learning how to guard the avenues of thought, as well as recognizing the necessity for so doing, against every error, every image of disease, every sinful desire, and every other discordant noise that seems to drown for a time the voices of God's ministering angels, the "impartation of the divine Mind to man" (Science and Health, p. 68). We know that only as we do this can we hope to hear God speak. Again, we are learning how to listen for the "still small voice" of Truth, how to close the ear to every note of discord, how to shut out from consciousness everything that is unlike good, and we are hoping, watching, and working for the ultimate silencing of all error, while, to quote Longfellow,—

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