Cacophony

The pastor’s sermon this morning was about listening to the Good Shepherd (Jesus) in the midst of the cacophony of different voices in the world, some of them telling us to do what is wrong.

I agree with my pastor on the cacophony of voices.  They are out there.  What pleases one person may not please another person.  The way that one person may want me to live is different from how another person thinks I should live.

I question, however, whether listening to the Good Shepherd helps, since there are so many ideas (some of them contradictory) about what the Good Shepherd wants.

So do I just go with what floats my boat?  If that’s the case, how can I be corrected?  Well, I’m not particularly worried about whether I will be “corrected” or not.  But I should listen to different ideas—-even ones that go against my grain—-because I need guidance as to what life is like and how I should go through it.  Life does not always (or even often) proceed according to what floats my boat, and that means I have to listen to some things that I may not want to hear, if I am to be successful.

But there are also times—-maybe a lot of times—-when I need to retreat from the cacophony of voices, sit in silence, and determine what is right for me to do, perhaps with God’s guidance.

See here (and the comments underneath the post) and also here for other people’s thoughts on this sort of issue.