Most of you who know me know that I have no problem being heard. I was apart of Toastmasters in highschool, aced my public speaking class in college, went to school and studied in Theatre and Performance studies to learn to project my voice and articulate it, I was a part of KSU Tellers to learn how to tell stories with my voice, and I currently use my voice to tell the stories of the past as an actress for Colonial Williamsburg. So one may surmise that I already have a voice and have no need to find or cultivate the ability to make my story heard.
I am currently at training camp for The World Race and I am about to jump out of my skin with excitement at the possibility of telling stories. But, I'm not going on this mission to tell tales of mythological creatures, or to tell the accounts of people who are dead and gone. While I am bringing a story of love to the rejected, I am also going to be gathering the stories of the silent to be a mouthpiece of the mute. I seriously CANNOT WAIT to go into these cultures and live amongst the nations and get a glimpse into the story of their lives. I'm so excited to be doing what I was trained to do in performance studies and as a storyteller! I'm going to be in the midst of abundantly rich history and life as I am living in these civilizations, and I hope I can capture every precious moment of grace and beauty that we encounter.
This week has been teaching me how to properly use my voice. It's been tuning the instruments that are my words. It's been conditioning my tongue to practice grace and love in stead of condemnation of fear. AND… it's been teaching me to speak in confidence and absolute assurity so that I can be strongly heard among the rest of the stories going out into the atmosphere. In participating in telling stories, I am SO responsible for my sound. For example, am I a clanging symbol? I am if I have not love in my speech. There is so much power and weight in the words we speak, and there's not enough accountability. I know that I haven't held myself accountable enough for how I am perceived, whether or not I build people in relationship or tear them down, or even how I speak about myself and the declarations I make over myself and others.
I am absolutely pumped that I get to go and gather and tell the stories of the faceless, the broken, the unheard, but I am also learning the power in the delivery. This is what I am resting upon and allowing the resonate.
"If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also; though they are large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" James 3:3-6
So I am setting upon a journey to lose myself and let Christ shine through me. I am also setting upon a journey to sit in the shadow of the silent and allow their voices to ring out above my own. Perhaps I will find myself in that.
