Do you want to hear my voice? I promised that you would, and my motivation for you to hear me is greater than yours. Since I know everything, you can ask me anything, but some inquiries are better than others. Do you want to have detailed plans about your own future? Do you want to have special insider knowledge of future events such as the end of the ages? What about definitive answers to long-standing doctrinal disputes? Don’t make this difficult for me. Don’t ask me to give you a burden that you can’t bear. I have so many other things to tell you.

A teacher asked a student what he was drawing and he said a picture of God. But, the teacher replied, no one knows what God looks like. They will when I’m done said the student. This expression of overconfidence is amusing, but there is a serious principle behind it. Do you see your own life as drawing a picture of me? Those who observe your actions will consider whether they give an accurate picture of me, or will draw accurate or inaccurate conclusions about me based on them. What kind of picture are you drawing? When you are done, will people know what I look like?

Do you know people that you would describe as sensitive? Are they discerning of the hurts and needs of other people, or does their sensitivity extend only to things that bother them? Empathy, sympathy, and compassion are highly regarded qualities in every faith tradition, including your own. But in them all it is implied that they extend outward to others rather than being consumed internally. If you can apply these qualities toward others more than yourself then the more sensitive you are the better you are able to discern and minister to the needs of others.

Are there issues you feel strongly about? Perhaps spreading my message is one of them, and you may have others. Can you express your passion and your humanity at the same time? For if you have to sacrifice your humanity to express your passion you will end up harming your cause rather than advancing it, and this applies to my cause as much as any other. Have you heard that tone of voice and non-verbal communication have more impact than your actual words? You can make this principle work in your favor rather than against you. Let your words of grace be spoken with grace.