Two voices in the same night. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t want to be a national civil rights leader. He had gone into ministry because his father was a pastor, and he always did what Daddy King wanted. Martin wanted a quiet life as a professor, possibly someday as president of Morehouse College.
Through an odd turn of events, as a young pastor he was thrust into the forefront of the Montgomery bus boycott. He came home late one night, tired. The phone rang. A hostile voice on the other end snarled, “We’re gonna get you, n-----!”
Martin stood in his kitchen, frozen in fear. Then, he said it was like a Voice— “Martin, you do what’s right. You stand up for justice. You be my drum major for righteousness. I’ll be with you.” Because Martin listened to the right Voice, his life was forever changed, and the world was changed, also.
The greatest of all musicians was named Orpheus. He sang a wide variety of songs. Sometimes he sang high-pitched songs about the mystical creation of the universe. Other times he played low notes on his lyre as he sang of the battles of Zeus and the Olympian gods who clashed against the Titans. Orpheus even sang songs about people who were changed into flowers or birds.
But whatever he sang, the rich clear words and the silvery notes from his harp were so enchanting that they always had a magical effect on everything around him. His songs could charm even rocks and rivers as well as humans and animals. Once when Orpheus was playing his splendid music in the forest, the oak trees pulled up their roots, followed him down the mountainside and planted themselves by the seashore where Orpheus ended his song.
When the great adventurer Jason the Argonaut was about to set out on his search for the golden fleece, Orpheus was invited to go along. Orpheus proved to be of great help on the long journey. When the tempers of the heroes of the ship flared up, Orpheus would sing a peaceful song and calm those who had been arguing. Sometimes when the rowing was long and tedious, Orpheus would begin to play his harp. Then time would seem to float by. The rowers would not tire as they listened to the soft rippling music.
The time came when Jason and his crew had to sail past the dangerous isle of the Sirens. The Sirens were beautiful creatures who were part human, part bird. Their songs were so wonderful that any person who heard them would become enchanted. Sailors who heard the Sirens' songs would hurl themselves overboard and swim toward the island. Lured by these seductive maiden’s voices, the men would perish as the waves cast them upon the jagged rocks around the isle.
As the Argonauts came close to the rocky island of the Sirens and the Siren’s voices stole over the ship, Orpheus began a splendid song of his own. Jason and this crew did not listen to the Siren’s voices, but to the enchanting voice of Orpheus, and sailed past the island unharmed.
On the mountain of transfiguration, God didn’t tell the disciples to listen to Moses or Elijah. God said, “This is my beloved son, listen to him…” Listen to the Voice of the boundless goodness of God, and God’s desire to share that goodness with you, and through you, with all the world. For God knows that if we listen to the right Voice, our lives, like that of Martin, will be changed forever; and so will all the world.
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