There’s this skit that I’ve seen where someone is blindfolded and he’s standing at one end of the room. On the other end of the room there’s a voice calling…gently…just above a whisper…and the voice is calling the blindfolded person. Between the two is a group of three people also calling the blindfolded person–but they’re much louder.

The first in the group of three represents career, ambition, and success. This person is shouting things like, “Come over to me! I will make you successful in your career! Everyone will want to know you, be with you, and even be you with the accomplishments I will give you! Come over here and I’ll show you what it means to live at the top of the ladder of success!”

The second person in the group of three represents money, wealth and material possessions. This person is shouting things like, “Come over here! I will make you rich! You’ll have so many things you won’t know what to do with it all! Don’t you want to be wealthy? Come over here!”

The third person in the group represents relationships. This one is shouting over the others, “Come over this way! I will give you a sense of belonging. I’ll make you feel like you fit in. I’ll give you relationships to pin all of your hopes and dreams on. You won’t ever feel lonely if you come over here!”

What’s going on here?

The blindfolded person begins to cover his ears to block out all the noise; and yet…he’s straining to hear the person on the other side of the room—it’s just so hard to make out what that person is saying. Almost giving up, he says, “I just want to hear what the gentle voice is saying!” And then, someone takes him by the elbow—not saying a word—and silently guides him closer and closer to the gentle voice that seems so far away. At first he doesn’t know if he should resist the person holding his elbow—who is it anyway? But he decides that it’s better to trust this guide rather than stand there amidst the shouting. With the help of the guide, he pushes past the shouts of success and career…past the yells for wealth and money…past the calls for relationships to fix everything. Then he hears his name, ever so faintly, and finds himself pulling toward the gentle voice knowing that it’s calling him.

Finally, he gets to the gentle voice and it all seems so clear.

You see, the gentle voice represents God. God is always calling us but sometimes it’s so hard to hear God’s voice when we’re in the middle of all of the noise…all the distractions…of the world.

The guide is the Holy Spirit always encouraging us to move forward toward God. Our Holy Spirit “guide” is always with us—even when we don’t realize it.

We are the blindfolded. Sometimes it’s so hard to see what’s important…what we should be focusing on. But it’s the Holy Spirit that guides us to God…The One that calls to us every minute of every day for our entire lives. And God calls us with such love.

All I want to do is hear the gentle voice of God in everything I do, everywhere I go; I know that God’s the one who will keep me on track.

© 2004 Ginny Rogers