On the average day in the middle of your self-talk, with whom, exactly, are you in conversation? 

 I admit the primary voice I hear many days is my dad’s. He’s been gone fifteen years but that hardly ended our conversation. Dad and I were mutually critical. He didn’t think I went about being a daughter the right way, and I had issues with the kind of father he was. We did our best to keep communicating the love underneath the layers of conflict. But it was hard to be in the same room without stirring something up.  

Dad’s critique of me continues unabated, although it seems I’m doing all the talking. I wasn’t the most obedient daughter in the world, but I did hear Dad. And that’s the first half of obedience anyway: listening. I listened, but I didn’t agree. I’m still listening. And still arguing my points.  

It was similar for Peter and the apostles before the Sanhedrin. They were ordered to stop teaching about Jesus, and they heard the court’s command. Yet they found another summons more compelling. Should they obey the voice of the Holy or the High Priest? Not even a contest. 

I wouldn’t dare compare my own willfulness with the divine summons. I’m sure they’re not often the same. But we all hear a chorus of voices daily: family dialogue, workplace chatter, ad campaigns, news commentary, and maybe even the gospel. We hear them all. But which voice will rule the day?  

Alice Camille  

Alice Camille is the author of twenty books including A Little Book of Light and other titles at alicecamille.com.