Tag: loud

More Right Notes than Wrong Notes are Being Played

Jennifred Jones

The world is like a symphony.

Today there are many types of instruments each making their own sound.

Some are playing the right notes–clear and beautifully…pleasant sounds to hear…they make us feel good and uplifted.

Some are playing the wrong notes…one of the clarinets squeaked, a trombone hit the wrong note and the kettle drums were a bit loud.

Over all the symphony sounds great. We enjoy the beautiful sounds and overlook the wrong notes played. It is still a good orchestra.

Ultimately there are more right notes being played than wrong.

In life there will always be wrong notes played. People are learning the skill of the instrument or they’re just hoping to be heard.

Keep developing your ear for the good sounds. Sometimes you’ll have to listen harder than others because maybe the drummer got us off on a tangent, but you’ll be able to hear the good music, the good sounds, catch the beat and feel inspired.

Keep listening…encourage others to listen for the good notes, and enjoy the symphony.

Voices in the Wilderness

Jennifred Jones

Have you ever had something you thought was important to say, that needed to be said, that no one else was saying, but needed to be heard?

It would help people if they could hear it, it could change the direction of their life, but they were nowhere near you, you didn’t even know who they were, you couldn’t summon them to hear your words, and frankly, they probably wouldn’t even recognize what you had to say was for them.

Just a voice…a voice out in the wilderness -being absorbed only by the mossy bark on the trees and getting soaked up by the fallen leaves and tramped on.

We live in a big wilderness it seems, yet there are many voices calling out to us.

Many of the voices are loud, clamoring, demanding for attention. They hackle, yell, demean, shame, put-down, confuse, conflict, and torment, and cause us to worry and fear. They even try to make us think bad thoughts about and hate other people-including ourselves!

But, if we keep walking, keep listening and get where it is quiet again, and really listen, we can hear a still small voice saying, ‘this is the way, walk in it’. It will be unassuming, patient, kind, gentle, leading, guiding, encouraging, hopeful, filled with wisdom; it might even be a gentle warning, but it will cause us to be at peace and rest– not filled with turmoil when we hear it. It will inspire us to do good and think good about other people.

I have heard all of these voices. I have heard the voice of fear and worry and shame and hate, but I have also heard the voice of kindness, grace, hope and peace. I hear them every day in my walk through the wilderness of life.

I know what each of them feels like and what it does to me when I pay heed.

The choice is mine, which voices I choose to listen to.

Some are so tempting and convincing — to entice me to worry and fret about something I have no control over—which is about everything.

I am choosing to listen to the quiet voice. I choose to listen for the voice that wants to give me hope and cause me to do good and noble things.  I choose that, although it is harder to hear and follow, that is what I choose. Sometimes I get off the path and start listening to the louder voices, but my quest is to listen for the still small voice in the wilderness…the one that will lead me through to the clearing on the other side.

Who knows, maybe someone else that I cannot see is behind me – lost in the wilderness – and cannot hear the still small voice — but will follow my footsteps and make it through.