Discovering the Still,

Small Voice Within

by

Joan Baliker

Thus hearing an inner voice in the form of books was answered within me as an inner excitement –– a knowing. Hundreds of books later my life was peppered with strange coincidences that verified my journey, leading me to Transcendental Meditation (TM) to the Infinite Way and finally to A Course in Miracles (ACIM). This has been my chosen path for the last 29 years.

The Bible instructs us, “Be still and know that I am God”. (Ps 46:10).

ACIM tells us, “Do not deny yourself the joy that was created for you for the misery you have made for yourself. God has given you the means for undoing what you have made. Listen and you will learn how to remember what you are.”

In his book, The City of God, St. Augustine tells us, “Seek not abroad, turn back into thyself for in the inner man dwells the truth.”You will find there are many ways of experiencing what we call the Voice from Within. After seeking inwardly, something in a book or article may call you to attention.

You may receive a call from a friend who offers just the right advice for a problem that has been nagging you.
A card or letter may arrive that addresses your feelings about a particular matter.

The Voice can come from anywhere ––once, while watching an old TV show, a solution to my current quandary was made clear.

Being consciously alert and knowing the Voice will answer places us in the receptive mode needed for “hearing.” As the Canadian professor of Philosophy, Gregory Viastas, says in The Religious Way, “. . .for there is strength in you greater than any strength of your own, the will that stirs within you when your own will is at rest.”

You have that strength.

 

While attending the New Seminary, an interfaith school, we were required to read and comment on individual chapters of the "Ten Challenges" by Leonard Felder. This is the first of 10 essays reflecting my interpretations of those Challenges Felder presents.

The voice of God has manifested itself in my life as an inner yearning, a sense of something calling me to pay attention. There was no great urge to pray or listen before my confirmation years in the Lutheran Church. I remember enjoying stories about Jesus and knowing that there was something very special about Him. His gentleness and caring called me even as a child.

For many years, my prayers were said as part of a nightly ritual. I did not expect an answer, but felt comfortable that I was doing my part as I understood it then.

As years passed that were filled with marriage, divorce and remarriage, and rearing four sons, something kept me in church. I noticed that when there was time to read or watch TV, I was drawn to religious themes. When my last child was in school full time, I began spending hours in the library choosing what I thought were books at random for perusal. Edgar Cayce’s life drew me and when I read the philosophy of reincarnation, my whole life changed. I told my husband that I felt he would be living with another person from then on and he responded, “Go for it!”