Do you have a belief system? Do you realize that everyone does? Have you observed that everyone you meet lives their life with a basic set of assumptions about the nature of the world, whether they acknowledge and articulate them or not, whether they consider them to be a creed or doctrine or not? So the question is not whether you believe, but what you believe. There are none so blind as those who insist that they reject all beliefs, for they hold theirs unawares. I accused some of being blind and others asked if they were blind also. How could they ask? How could they not know?

The Bible records an account in which a prophet listened for me in dramatic events like a storm and an earthquake, but I was not in those things. Yet afterwards he heard me speak to him in a still small voice. In what way do you hear from me? Do you require a lot of drama? Have you ever had a faint impression of a course of action you should take, and ignored it, and realized later that it would have been a better choice? I speak to you in the same still small voice with which I spoke to the prophet.

All speech is different, but is all silence the same? You could argue that the absence of sound is silence, and there is only one version of that, but has that been your experience? Have you experienced both profound silences and awkward silences? Certainly these are not the same thing. I answered my critics in such a way that they didn’t dare ask me any more questions. This is different from a situation that is so embarrassing that no one knows what to say. Have you made a joyful noise before me? At other times have you realized that you should keep silent?

Do you love the poor? An objective reading of the Bible would indicate that they have privileged status in the Kingdom of God, but who is eager to be poor to gain this? Do you love the poor enough to donate money for their relief? In the modern economy you can provide for the poor without having to come in contact with them. Do you love the poor enough to meet with them, to hear their stories, and to find out why I consider them to be rich in faith? Do you identify with them, knowing that you too are poor in spirit, and that this is your access point into the Kingdom of God?