"I Can See Your Voice"

There is a very entertaining weekly show on TFC (the Filipino Channel), called "I Can See Your Voice."

The show features 6 supposed-to-be singers on stage standing and holding microphones in different frozen singing stances. Three of these are not really singers but are pretending to be so. They are the "sintunados," the out of tune ones. The rest are true singers.

A well-known singer, with the help of some comedians and the audience, is supposed to see, through clues provided by the 6 supposed-to-be singers themselves, who the real singers are and who the "sintunados" are. He or she is supposed to be able to choose, by a process of elimination, the one who would sing in a duet with her/him. Depending on the choice, the singer may end up in a duet with one who is out of tune. Either way, the whole show is entertaining and hilarious.

What the show achieves is to confirm the common belief that we cannot make correct judgments based simply on external appearances. In a way, this is an application of the saying "Who are we to judge?"

There is a saying: "We cannot judge a book by its cover." [On the lighter side, one international beauty queen is known to have said: "Don't judge me. I am not a book. 😎 😉]

Surely, people, consciously or subconsciously, reveal who they are through their speech, acts and deeds. In their unguarded moments people can say and do stupid things. People can also show their good side. But it is also true that there is something inside people's hearts that we cannot see. Some can be good in pretending who they are not. We can therefore make mistakes in judging people. But the best thing is not to judge.

But In life, must we pretend to be who we are not?

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Polonius tells his son:

"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

The Lord, however, knows us through and through. The whole of Psalm 139 puts in detail how God knows us. Here are a few lines of the psalm:

"LORD, you have probed me, you know me:

you know when I sit and stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

You sift through my travels and my rest;

with all my ways you are familiar.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

LORD, you know it all." (Psalm 139: 1-4)

No one can know the voice of a person by just looking at him. No one can know what a person has in his heart just by looking at him.

But God can see our very soul. With Him we can not pretend who we are not. He knows who we truly are: His creatures He has originally made in His image and likeness. Beloved sinners, but beloved nonetheless.

From this, one thing, therefore, follows. We must live in a way pleasing to Him:

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

That is the other realization we can draw from "I Can See Your Voice."

May we hear and listen to His voice.#