Voices

by Cheryl Merrick

The tired woman puts her hands to her ears,
Her mind reeling with all the voices,
Some loudly demanding:
The baby’s cry,
The toddler’s scream,
Her school children’s calls for assistance,
The PTA’s request for cookies,
The Church’s appeal for help with the program.
Her mind is also crowded with silent voices:
the teen’s unvoiced plea for advice,
her husband’s quiet need for support,
her mother’s lonely call from far away,
the sorrowing neighbor’s emptiness.

Still other voices blare, oozing 5th Avenue glitz:
“You should have this!”
“You should be like her!”.
While some steadfastly, in quietness, affirm:
“Study the scriptures.”
“Do your family history.”.
The intensity increases with society’s amplified questions:
“How many miles did you jog this week?”
“How many quarts did you can this fall?”
From a mind overwhelmed with requests, pleas,
and admonitions,
the woman softly sobs her sense of failure,
“I can’t do it all!”.
In this moment of quietness,
a still, small voice is heard,
quietly reminding,
Only one thing is needful,
To know the Lord God.
She slowly raises from her knees,
confident in the ability of this quiet voice
to lead her in peace.