Our Valuable Voices

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(Leviticus 5:1) If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and through he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity.

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God holds people morally, spiritually, and socially responsible for what they witness and learn. In the process of healing communities (collective individuals), He expects people to contribute their own stories and understandings so the pool of common knowledge is made richer and broader.

A (Personal)

I often think my story or personal perspective is insignificant--sometimes because it's so different from other views, sometimes because it's so similar. Yes, seeing differently can also mean opportunity for growth, and seeing similarly can also mean opportunity for reinforcing truth and encouraging people. Through Wisdom's careful and constant tutoring, I can learn to discern (by faith) when my voice helps and when it hurts the building up of others. Sometimes, too, my contribution to the community might be in the initial voice that calls for this public adjuration.

A (Psychological)

Miller, Miller, Nunnally, and Wackman have created the popular "Awareness Wheel," which is a therapeutic intervention that helps couples skillfully invite their partners to communicate their thoughts with greater specificity (http://www.couplecommunication.com/). The couples learn to express themselves in five dimensions: Sensory Data (sight, hearing, felt sensations, smell, taste); Thoughts, Feelings (emotions); Wants (goals and motives); and Actions (specific behaviors). I think it also helps individuals better understand their own views of an issue. Although this tool uses a wheel metaphor, I've seen others effectively adapt it to a barrel or cylinder metaphor to indicate the depth issues have below the surface. I prefer yet another adaptation of that--the bank safety deposit box metaphor. I believe that buried in our brains are valuable insights that, like safety deposit boxes, contain perspectives that, if shared with others, can make both the owners and the community much richer. Sometimes we need other people's help in understanding just how valuable our insights are.

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Lord, I know so little about how to measure the social value of the contributions of my story, my hypotheses, my observations. I am thankful, regardless of my maturity or accurate perceptions, that You love hearing my voice as I honestly and humbly talk to You and seek Your wisdom. So I submit my thoughts wholly to You and Your purposes: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my Rock) and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).