What if I answer the call and ignore the voices…

Last week’s letter was heavy on talk about internal voices. That may be because of a new study coming out about not everyone having an internal narrative. That’s fascinating to me, but it’s not the point of my letter today.

As I’ve raised children, I’ve become more aware of the way that society molds the internal voices in our heads. Walking through a mall we can be bombarded by a variety of messages about what we should wear, and often times that comes with nuances based on our gender or our age or any number of other details. These messages are just as loud when we turn on our television or walk past a rack of magazines.

Sometimes this messages are positive, but it’s been my experience that most of the messages are about how I’m failing to meet a standard. A pattern of “you should” and “you shouldn’t” became empowered, and suddenly I was self-critiquing based on messages far beyond myself even though they were heard in my head.

I’ve seen this pattern of internal voices crush hopes and self-destruct dreams. The internal voices convince a person that their idea is too big or too expensive or too farfetched, and then sometimes, a person knows they are not alone in their hope, in their dream, in their call.

Rev Stephanie Price is one of those incredible people who has listened to her call and despite the messages of internal and external voices, she has decided to answer her call. It is big. It is expensive. It is farfetched. And, it is beautiful and incredible and inspirational.

Rev Stephanie Price is planting a faith community committed to being in a healthy relationship with each other and creation. This community is seeking to address the needs of the local community as well as the global community. They are creating a space that feeds the body as well as feeds the soul. And, they are doing it with care, compassion, and conviction.

Please visit Jefferson and Spruce this Sunday to hear Rev Stephanie Price conclude our Care of Creation sermon series and offer wisdom of how we, too, can answer God’s call in our life amidst all of the other messages.

Peace,
Rev Elizabeth