Our Leader's familiar poem "Feed My Sheep" (Miscellaneous Writings,pp. 397, 398; Poems, p. 14) is sung by thousands of Christian Scientists, who find great comfort in its inspired words.

Considering the line in this hymn, "I will listen for Thy voice," one may well pause and ask one's self the searching question, Am I really listening for God's voice? What an art it is to be a good listener! Sometimes there seems a tendency to talk rather than to listen, to tell ourselves or others what we know or think rather than to listen to the truth in quiet receptivity.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Moses was chosen for his great work was that he was a good listener, which fact enabled him readily to hear the voice of God. Evidently Moses was not a great talker, for to use his own words he was "slow of speech"; and perhaps because he was "slow of speech" his hearing was not impeded by his own loquacity, and he was better able to hear God's messages.

When the child Samuel was serving in the temple before the venerable Eli, his time was spent in quietly attending to his sacred duties; and his reverent listening quickly apprehended the voice of the Lord calling "Samuel, Samuel."

Mrs. Eddy's views on the subject of silence versus a surplus of conversation are graphically set forth in the following lines of "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 339): "If people would confine their talk to subjects that are profitable, that which St. John informs us took place once in heaven, would happen very frequently on earth,—silence for the space of half an hour." These lines may set us wondering whether we have talked rather than listened, and whether the subjects we have talked were really "profitable."

Quality, not quantity, is essential for profitable conversation, and all would undoubtedly make more rapid progress in Christian Science if they would more obediently pause and say, "I will listen for Thy voice."

The admonition in the forty-sixth Psalm, "Be still, and know that I am God," indicates that in order to know God, Truth, good, it is necessary to silence the material senses.

How quiet it must have been with Jesus during those forty days in the wilderness; and what great spiritual strength he gained through that period of solitary fasting he was tempted to the fullest degree; but he withstood the temptations, and subsequently, as we read, he healed "all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."

In our effort to listen for God's voice, we may not receive our answer in words audible to material sense, but as through faithful study we keep our thinking clear of false beliefs the divine message will find entrance into our consciousness and lead us in the right path.

It is interesting to note that frequently the most quiet pursuits were being followed by those to whose listening hearts the clear call of Truth came. Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law when the voice of God called to him from Mount Horeb. David was tending his father's sheep at the time he was chosen by Samuel. That quiet employment evidently had given opportunity for right preparation of thought, for he, above all his brothers, was chosen to be anointed king.

In listening for God's voice one must lay aside human will and selfish planning; for how otherwise can one apprehend God's plan? Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 308), "The Soul-inspired patriarchs heard the voice of Truth, and talked with God as consciously as man talks with man." Then, as we too become "Soul-inspired," we shall hear the voice of Truth and unfailingly receive our answer and our guidance.