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VIEWPOINTS: What does God sound like?

People often say they heard from God, or felt called to do something by a higher power.

Michele Bachmann, for example, said God told her to run for a U.S. House seat, and that she and her husband fasted for three days to be more sure.

Read the full Viewpoints question here or continue on to the response below.

God might sound like everything

When I first read this question I thought of the movie "Dogma" in which God (played by Alanis Morissette) speaks with such an awesome voice that any mortal who hears it implodes from the overwhelming magnitude of the sound. To be honest I kind of like that idea. As a Buddhist I am prone to believe that "God" is a inseparable aspect of all of our perceived aspect as well as a link to that which its beyond or perception. In that respect I suppose God might sound like everything. In my imagination, God sounds like nothing. God's a nothingness that is vast and miniscule simultaneously. The most substantial omnipotent/ubiquitous nothingness that has never existed. It's a quite that renders the listener deaf. It's a silence that knows me and knows best.

However, I still like that image put into my mind by "Dogma". There is something beautiful about a creator who's beyond the scope of his children. Who must be cautious not to destroy his mortal creations. I like the thought that maybe God doesn't speak to us directly because to do so would destroy us; that God has to let us figure it out for ourselves or else we'll never learn; that even God can't remove our frailty or govern the magnitude of his/her/its awesome power.

Of course this is all wild speculation. Your guess is a good as mind. Maybe God just sounds like the mundane. The bad stuff as well as the good. God's the sound of food sizzling on the grill and the sound of the airline clerk apologetically informing you that your luggage has been lost a second time on the same trip. Would anything meet your expectations? Or would any sound at all just be disappointing?


 

Topics: Culture, Social Issues
Beliefs: Buddhism
Tags: what does god sound like

Other Responses to This Viewpoint

God sounds like anyone speaking from their heart

Many years ago I was sitting in the high mountains of the Trinity Alps (CA) and heard a train coming through. After a few minutes I realized it was the sound of the wind in the trees. I had come home. I was once more in the woods, alone under the night sky; thus began my conscious spiritual journey.
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A baby’s first cry…

A baby's first cry. The silence of a fallen snow.
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This gets at something very important

This question didn’t interest me when I first read it, but upon reflection I realized it gets at something very important. Think back for a moment to the days of the Roman Empire; back then from the point of view of Imperial Rome God sounded like marching armies and the clash of weapons in combat.
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