Lost and Lifted Voices
What does it mean to be there with and for someone who has lost their voice?
With relatively few exceptions we are all born with a voice. We naturally breathe in a way that allows us to make noises, to scream if necessary to make our needs known. Our hunger, our pain, our need for human contact are known by those closest to us, and sometimes to faraway strangers as well.
But as we grow and move through life, walls and barriers are put up, some out of necessity, to protect us. Shame and fear teach us the shallow breath, and we begin to lose our ability to fully reveal that deepest part of who we are.
Sometimes voices are silenced by the other people and systems that fear those voices. A man's anger is righteous indignation. A woman's anger is hysteria. A man raising his voice is powerful. A woman raising her voice is shrill. When any voice is raised against an oppressive system with the words, "this hurt me," those in power do everything possible to deny, to discredit, to shift blame, to quiet that annoying voice of truth that calls them to be and to do better.
Crying repentance is not about "look at all the rules you broke, and if you don't change, God will punish you." It is about revealing the ways we hurt and limit each other, and demanding justice, not in the form of punishment, but in the form of healing relationships and remembering how we are all connected.
If you've found your voice, or even a small part of it, what can you do for and with those who have lost their?
With relatively few exceptions we are all born with a voice. We naturally breathe in a way that allows us to make noises, to scream if necessary to make our needs known. Our hunger, our pain, our need for human contact are known by those closest to us, and sometimes to faraway strangers as well.
But as we grow and move through life, walls and barriers are put up, some out of necessity, to protect us. Shame and fear teach us the shallow breath, and we begin to lose our ability to fully reveal that deepest part of who we are.
Sometimes voices are silenced by the other people and systems that fear those voices. A man's anger is righteous indignation. A woman's anger is hysteria. A man raising his voice is powerful. A woman raising her voice is shrill. When any voice is raised against an oppressive system with the words, "this hurt me," those in power do everything possible to deny, to discredit, to shift blame, to quiet that annoying voice of truth that calls them to be and to do better.
Crying repentance is not about "look at all the rules you broke, and if you don't change, God will punish you." It is about revealing the ways we hurt and limit each other, and demanding justice, not in the form of punishment, but in the form of healing relationships and remembering how we are all connected.
If you've found your voice, or even a small part of it, what can you do for and with those who have lost their?
- Continue to do your own work, to give voice to what is hidden deep inside you, and to become conscious of how you use your voice and power in ways that might diminish other voices.
- Breathe. Relearn the breath of life that calms our fears and reconnects us to our souls and to every living being.
- Sit. Be still. Be present. Listen carefully for the whisperings of their voices and souls.
- Quite your own voice and thoughts for a time, so that their soft, emerging voices may be heard.
- Use your voice to amplify their voices and ideas. Let them lead the way, but be there to support them when louder voices try to drown them out.
I am a voice teacher. I know that one voice makes a difference and can bring exquisite beauty to the world. But my most powerful experiences with music have all been when I was singing with others:
- A convention hall full of voice teachers singing Schubert's "An die Musik".
- A room full of choir directors improvising harmonies to Amazing Grace without conductor or accompaniment, just listening to each other and learning to sing as one.
- The college choir concert where we didn't just follow the conductor, but the conductor, accompanist, and singers all felt and expressed the same things as a unified whole.
- Standing in the middle of a singing congregation and realizing that I would never be left alone, that their voices and prayers and love that had sustained me would always sustain me.
Give that gift to someone today. Breathe with them. Listen to them, and then join your voices until the whole world knows their song. Sing the song of redeeming love.
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