Thundering Voices

I'm not sure that I could say I have a favorite actor, but if I had to pick one I think Liam Neeson would be right at or near the top of the list. This comes to mind because I recently heard Neeson on a radio interview. I've always loved his work (in fact my desire to see the movie A-Team is mostly because of him) but, after listening to the interview, I began to wonder why my attention was so well kept by him when he wasn't overly funny or entertaining. I think part of it is due to the fact that I like his movies so when he talked about his experience in doing certain scenes it was interesting. But there is no doubt in my mind that his voice was a big reason my interest wasn't altered during the 10 minute segment.

That's something we hardly think about, though Hollywood knows it has an effect on us. A man with such a voice as Neeson can have a presence like non-other. Just think of the roles the man has been chosen to play in the past 10+ years. In the first prequel of Star Wars he played Qui Gon Jin, the wise mentor to Obi Wan Kenobi. In Batman Begins he was Bruce Wayne's tutor of sorts. He was also chosen to be the voice of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia movie series. And, of course, his movie taken gives us the following speech (beginning at about the 22 second mark):



Apparently a good enough voice can communicate wisdom, make one sound trustworthy, and ignite fear in one's adversaries.

But as good a voice as Neeson may have, it isn't worth an echo of the voice of his Creator. Though God speaks to us today by His written Word and through the agent of the Holy Spirit, it is not because He lacks a voice.

One magnificent example of the voice of the Lord that we find in Scripture is in John 12:

"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to him." (27-29)

I'm not sure what amazes me more, the Father speaking audibly with a beautiful voice like that of an angel or the people attributing such beauty to thunder. But there are two things that are more important than this (1) who is speaking and (2) what He is saying.

You see- in the end, guys like Liam Neeson, Morgan Freemon, and James Earl Jones can sound as trustworthy as they want. The Lord, on the other hand, is exactly as He sounds: powerful, pure, and perfect. What we hear in these other men is the echo of the truly perfect One who spoke the world into existence.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen