QRM

In my teenage ham radio days, I learned there were two kinds of interference which made listening difficult.  One was abbreviated QRN which meant natural interference such as static, or some atmospheric condition.  A second was abbreviated QRM which referred to man made interference.  When several people were operating on the same frequency, or nearly the same frequency, it made listening to a weak distant signal difficult.  But, one of the things learned through hours and hours of listening was the way to hear the smaller, weaker, distant signals even though close and more powerful signals were overpowering the radio receiver. 

 

Lent is all about hearing the quiet steady voice of God even in the midst of the loud bombarding voices which are constantly overpowering our senses.  It challenges us to experience stillness when chaos flourishes all around us.  While we can control some of the noise and confusion which swirls around us, it is also true that it is one of the givens for most of us.  We live in this perpetual state of constantly being bombarded by powerful voices which makes hearing what God would say to us a most difficult endeavor.  One of the things Lent seeks to do is to help us to listen. 

 

For most of us, listening to the quiet voice of God is something we have to learn to do.  It does not come naturally for most of us.  And when we talk about learning, what is usually required is some kind of practice.  The assumption is that it will be difficult and that we will fail on the way to the goal of becoming one who is able to hear the voice of God in the midst of the chaos of our life.  The first step is believing that He has spoken to folks in the past and that He continues to do so in the present.  Without that foundation, we have no ears to hear.