For several years now, it’s been my responsibility to edit and upload the sermons each week to our church website. Over time, the most curious thing is that I have developed the ability to recognize in the raw sound data, without hearing it, when Don is speaking and where he closes the sermon, by the shapes the sound data makes. Every person has a truly unique sound “shape” when they speak, and specific words also form unique shapes in the editor. When I am editing the sermon, I quickly scroll through the data, before listening to it, seeking the particular shape I am looking for, where Don is closing his prayer. So that the prayer time and discussion after the sermon is not including online, I cut it there.
Here is a screenshot example of the data with Don saying, “And for that, we bless you, Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Here is a clip my husband, closing his prayer at the beginning of the same service, saying, “So we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.” Pay attention to differences in the peaks and spaces of the sound data, as well as the height and curves of the shapes. There are similarities, but it’s also evident that these are two different people. Amazing!
Isn’t it crazy how most of us can also recognize the unique tones, pitches, inflections, of each person’s voice when we hear it. Though my daughters’ voices are quite similar, if they are all speaking in the next room, I can distinguish, without seeing them, who is speaking. This is because I know each of them well, and am very familiar with their unique voices.
This has me thinking about how, over time, we grow to know and recognize Jesus’ voice, even though we cannot yet see Him. He is always speaking to us, always pursuing us, and calling us to come closer to Him. We may not be looking at sound data in an editor, but the “sound shape” of His voice that we can see, without hearing it, is the truth contained in the Scriptures, as well as the beauty of creation all around us. No matter how many times I read the same verse, there is always something new to learn about God, about His Kingdom, about His love. No matter how many times I watch a sunrise, it is a completely new experience. The sound of His voice, the one that we can always recognize in a world cluttered with many voices, is the one that always proclaims His truth, His redeeming love, His joy. We hear it during times of worship, in prayer, in fellowship, in a sermon, in Scripture. The more we get to know Jesus, the more we recognize the sound and shape of His voice.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” John 10:27- 30. (NLT)
