Thought for the Week

How do you read your Reformer? Which pages do you go to first? For me it is always the front page headline – hopefully it is good news (someone has won something; there are more jobs coming to the area) but not always ( someone has died suddenly, there has been a crime).

Then I head to page two – the “Voice of the People”. I love that we get to hear different people speak, last week it was on the monarchy, this week it is the exam results.

I am also keen to check if it is someone I know, or someone I have seen but never spoken to before.

Going through the rest of the paper there will be plenty more voices: people who have passed exams, politicians, fundraisers, people who are dealing with adversity.

Which voices do you like to listen to? Which voices make you jump to the next article?

Perhaps there are two voices that we need to listen to the most.

The first is the voice that we disagree with. We have to ask “why would a sane person ever reach such a view?”.

If we don’t we will only ever reinforce our own views all the time. There is a difference between wanting to be right and wanting to find out the truth. And there is another voice. The voice of the people you do not often hear – people who are not famous, people who sometimes get ignored. It is so important to hear the quieter voices.

Jesus once said that the gentle folk would be the ones to inherit the world, and he Himself often spoke with a tender voice.

In the Old Testament we are told a story where it is the still small voice which belongs to God. Listen carefully – I hope you hear it. Neil Glover, Flemington Hallside Church