This morning: rain. Again.

Since I couldn't commute by bicycle this morning, I decided to do my best Mark Hinders impersonation. I walked from my home to my office in the house of the church.

As Mark does every day, I plugged in my i-Pod. The volume was low -- too low, actually, because as clusters of cars pulsed past me (from red traffic lights that had turned green behind me on Jamestown Road), the noise would drown out the music. When the car noise faded away, I could hear the music again.

I didn't mind it happening, because it made me think of how intermittently I hear God.

I experience the voice of God to be quiet and constant: "I love you. You are of infinite value in my eyes. Receive my grace and forgiveness, grace upon grace."

But, often, my false self makes itself known. This is my judgmental, critical self, turning the judgment and criticism in on myself! "You're no good. Everything is falling apart, and it's your fault. Why aren't you working harder?"

These destructive messages drown out the quiet voice of God.

My spiritual director once advised me: "When that judging self pops up, just say, 'Oh, hello. It's you again.'" I gently and firmly push that false self along on its journey. The noise of those destructive messages fades away.

And what I hear again is that quiet voice of God, that voice which never stops speaking: "I love you. You are of infinite value in my eyes. Receive my grace and forgiveness, grace upon grace."