As a theist, I believe that ‘God is Love’ and that God, through many diverse voices, says to me – says to us – over and over: ‘I love you. I love you. I love you.’
This was Jesus’ voice – the voice Jesus wants us to hear. It is a voice that calls us back, that calls us to return to ‘love’ and to return ‘to love.’ Judas, immersed in his despair, was not able to hear or to believe and hence to trust the voice of love calling him back. Peter heard this voice and was able to hear, to believe and to trust.
Both cried bitter tears. Peter’s tears were cleansing; Judas’ tears were confirmations of his being ‘loathsome’. Peter’s tears were tears of remorse and hence tears of healing. Judas’ tears were tears of judgment and hence were tears of death.
I know firsthand that it is not easy to allow the voice of God, the voice of Love and Mercy, to speak to me when I am feeling un-love-able. I know what it is like to believe that I am ‘not worthy’ of God’s love. I know what it is like to forget that I cannot earn God’s love because God’s love is a gift that does not have to be earned – it is a gift that ‘simply’ has to be accepted.
What powerfully shapes our lives – my life and your life, Gentle Reader – are the voices to which we listen. Today more than ever before, as a consequence of technology alone, there are many more voices that call to us, that compete for our attention. Add to these voices the traditional voices of family, teachers, religious leaders, friends, and authors AND our own ‘inner voice’ (the critic, the cynic, the guide, the teacher within) and we are quickly whelmed-over by the variety and intensity of these voices.
Which of these voices do we pay attention to? When they conflict, how do we sort out the ones to listen to and the ones to ignore? How do we go about choosing which voices to silence? How, then, do we actually go about silencing them? How do we make space so that we can hear ‘God’s Voice’ (the wisdom figures tell us that God speaks to us in whispers)? How would you be different if you believed that ‘God is Love’ and that God is ‘Searching’ for you?
I leave us today with a conclusion offered to us by Eric Fromm:
The mature response to the problem of existence is love.
Searcher-Seeker 
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