VOICE

Listening to Rebecca sing in church on Sunday got me thinking. Her voice is amazing. I was telling my wife about it after Church and she asked what song Rebecca sang. I couldn’t remember and it didn’t matter, none of the words registered, only the voice. It could have been a different language for all I knew. There were only two people in the room at the time: Rebecca and her God. It was that worshipful.

Hers is one of the most soulful voices I’ve ever heard, soft like a comfortable pillow with a cool side underneath. There are a lot of different voices you hear. Some of them belt out and hit you like a baseball bat and make you say wow. Others are more utilitarian like a screwdriver or a pipe wrench; not real pretty but they get the job done. But those aren’t the kind of voices that move you to a place you weren’t planning to go.

I think voices can do that without sounding pretty, voices like Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. People say they sound bad but you really have to listen to what they’re saying, they don’t give you an option. Their voices are harsh and cruel and they wake you and tell you things that you don’t want to hear, things that you need to hear, warnings. And warnings aren’t pretty. I doubt that Tom or Bob have ever been accused of being pretty.

All this made me think about what my voice sounds like, not my singing voice, I’m well aware of that. What do people hear when they hear me? Is it the voice of worship and purity or something else? Is it a voice of confrontation and warning? Do I voice the Gospel or do I just say words? The answer is not what I want it to be. More of a clanging gong than anything else.