Thank(mas): Voices

(if you wanna know what's going one, click here.)

I am sitting on the floor of my room, while below me people are coming into the neighborhood get-together my parents are hosting tonight (I am the youngest person in the house by a upwards of thirty years in most cases). As I sit, I am listening.

Listening to the sound of the happy exclamations as a new face appears in the door is making my night.

The sound of their conversation, the low hum, accented by a loud laugh, or a distinctive voice rising above the rest.

With each voice, you hear a personality. One voice likes to be the center of attention, one cares about football, one is new and is meeting people.

There are British accents, Southern accents, maybe even a Northern accent. Then there are neutral accents.

The best, is the laughter.

Chuckles so low and demure, it's almost a grunt. 

Gravely, sharp, short laughs - like someone is rapping a mallet on plywood.

Laughs that start in the esophagus and work back into the diaphragm

 making a wheezy noise turn into a warm rolling exclamation.

Higher pitched snickers, like raindrops in a bucket.

Together the voices, and the personalities behind them, the laughter and joy within it, make the most beautiful chorus that rises to the ceiling of the room, pushing up the stairwell and filling the house.

Voices are God's gift of expression. Used to share our experience with others. Today I sat at table and let my voice and my friend's voice share, encourage, and exhort each other. Downstairs, they laugh together, and share joy.

Voices are a gift often taken for granted, but also have the ability to overwhelm with so much power when used together.

(see next post here)