Do You Hear What I Hear? Chapter 5

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 19, 2026 | Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

by Carlo Griseta

Trauma Echoes

If divine Presence leaves an echo, human presence does too.

For a child especially, the sound of those entrusted with their care may remain long after the event itself is over…

…A slammed door.

…Raised voices from another room.

…Footsteps approaching down a hallway.

…A parent’s tone suddenly changing.

…The sound of someone leaving.

…Or the terrible silence when comfort should have come.

Those sounds may become trauma echoes.

Years later the original event is gone, but the nervous system can react as though something similar is happening again; that gives Adam’s words another possible dimension:

“I heard your sound in the garden, and I was afraid.”

The qol itself is not described as threatening, yet Adam hears Presence through fear.

And perhaps one of the tragedies of human experience is that we can begin interpreting the Sound of God through the echoes of other sounds we have known.

If authority sounded angry, God may sound angry.

If a father was unpredictable, the word “Father” may sound unsafe.

If religion sounded condemning, Scripture may sound like accusation.

If love was conditional, God’s love may sound conditional.

If abandonment shaped childhood, even silence may sound like someone leaving.

This becomes enormously important for spiritual care…

Which sound are we hearing?

Some people may not actually be running from God, they may be running from an echo they have mistaken for God.

A person can spend decades hearing:

God is disappointed in me.

God is angry.

God is waiting for me to fail.

God will leave if I get this wrong.

But is that actually the Sound Jesus reveals?

Jesus becomes profoundly important because He clarifies the Sound.

“If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

Want to know what God sounds like?

Listen here…

Listen around the woman dragged before Jesus in shame.
Listen around Zacchaeus.
Listen around children welcomed into His arms.
Listen at Lazarus’s grave.
Listen to Peter after his failure.
Listen from the cross: “Father, forgive them.”

Jesus is, among many other things, the clarification of the Sound.

And then the question becomes not merely: What sound am I hearing?

But: What sound am I leaving behind in someone else? In children? In frightened people? In grieving people? In employees? In those over whom I have authority?

When someone hears our footsteps approaching, does something within them tighten? Or does something within them whisper: I am safe.

Presence is learning to carry a sound that does not create another wound.

Healing may not mean erasing every trauma echo.

Perhaps it means encountering another Sound—again and again—until the old echo no longer gets the final word.

The echo says: Hide… The Presence says: Where are you?

The echo says: You are unwanted… The Presence calls your name.

The echo says: Run away… The Presence says: Come.

The echo says: You are alone… The Presence says: I am with you.

And perhaps our walk becomes prophetic when another human being encounters our presence and, perhaps for the first time, God sounds safe.

Journal & Reflection

Pause here before moving on.

Write freely. These questions are invitations, not tests.

☐ What sounds from your past still carry emotional weight?

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☐ Have you ever mistaken an old echo for the voice of God?

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☐ What messages about God did you learn from authority, family, religion, or painful experiences?

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☐ What does Jesus reveal about what God sounds like?

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☐ What sound are you leaving behind in the people entrusted to your care?

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Do You Hear What I Hear? Chapter 4

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 19, 2026 | Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

by Carlo Griseta

Run Toward the Sound

At first we hear the Sound.

Then we recognize the Sound.

Then we turn toward the Sound.

Then we walk toward the Sound.

Eventually we begin to live from the Sound.

And finally our walk becomes a prophetic sound for someone else.

Hear the Sound.
Turn toward the Sound.
Run toward the Sound.
Live from the Sound.
Become an echo of the Sound.

Humanity once heard the Sound and hid;

Grace teaches humanity how to hear The Sound without running away.

Eventually we stop merely asking:

“Can you hear God?”

Our lives begin asking:

“Can you hear something of God in the way I walk?”

Journal & Reflection

Pause here before moving on.

Write freely. These questions are invitations, not tests.

☐ What are you currently tempted to run from?

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☐ What might change if you turned toward the Sound instead of hiding?

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☐ Where are you being invited to move from hearing to living?

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☐ What does “run toward the Sound” mean practically for you?

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☐ What is one next step you can take?

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Do You Hear What I Hear? Chapter 3

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 18, 2026 | Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 18, 2026

Our Walk Becomes a Prophetic Sound

What if our walk itself is prophetic? Not prophecy merely as predicting future events.

But prophecy as making something of the heart and character of God audible in the world.

Perhaps our walk becomes the echo of what we have heard.

Abraham heard “Go,” and his footsteps testified that he had heard.

Moses heard “I am sending you,” and his return to Egypt became a prophetic sound.

Isaiah heard “Whom shall I send?” and his “Here am I” became a sound in history.

The disciples heard “Follow me,” and abandoned nets became a proclamation.

Mary heard her name and carried resurrection news into the world.

Perhaps, the Sound of God becomes the walk of humanity.

The world may not need more people constantly announcing: “God told me…”

It desperately needs people whose lives possess the recognizable resonance of the One they claim to have heard.

Mercy becomes a prophetic sound.
Forgiveness becomes a prophetic sound.
Sitting quietly beside someone who is grieving becomes a prophetic sound.
Refusing to shame someone becomes a prophetic sound.
Giving without demanding recognition becomes a prophetic sound.
Loving an enemy becomes a prophetic sound.
Remaining present when everyone else leaves becomes a prophetic sound.

Perhaps the prophetic is not primarily: “I have a message from God for you,” perhaps sometimes it is: “Something of God has become audible through the way I live.”

Acts 4:13 says people recognized that Peter and John had been with Jesus, something about them carried the residue of encounter, they had heard a Sound, they walked according to that Sound. Eventually, their walk became a sound.

Faith hears; Presence forms; Love moves, and movement becomes prophetic.

Every step of faith leaves an echo.

Journal & Reflection

Pause here before moving on.

Write freely. These questions are invitations, not tests.

☐ What does your life communicate before you speak?

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☐ Where might mercy, forgiveness, patience, or presence become a prophetic sound through you?

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☐ Who has recognized something of God through the way you have lived?

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☐ What would it mean for your walk to echo the One you have heard?

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☐ What kind of sound do you want people to experience when they encounter you?

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Do You Hear What I Hear? Chapter 2

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 18, 2026 | Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 18, 2026

The Sound Produces Movement

Consider the biblical pattern.

Adam and Eve — Genesis 3

They hear the qol of God moving through the garden.

Fear moves them away from the Sound.

Abraham — Genesis 12

“The LORD said to Abram, ‘Go…’”

A Voice interrupts settledness.

Abraham hears—and moves into the unknown.

Moses — Exodus 3

From the burning bush comes: “Moses, Moses.”

A shepherd hears his name and eventually returns to Egypt.

Israel at Sinai — Exodus 19–20

Thunder. Trumpet. Voice.

A people are summoned into covenant.

Samuel — 1 Samuel 3

“Samuel! Samuel!”

At first Samuel does not recognize who is calling.

Eli helps him learn how to listen.

“Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”

Samuel must learn to recognize the Sound.

Elijah — 1 Kings 19

Wind. Earthquake. Fire.

Then the mysterious qol demamah daqqah.

Elijah comes out of the cave.

The Sound draws him from hiding.

Isaiah — Isaiah 6

“Holy, holy, holy.”

The thresholds shake; Isaiah becomes undone.

Then comes another Sound: “Whom shall I send?”

And Isaiah answers: “Here am I. Send me.”

Ezekiel — Ezekiel 37

“Prophesy to these bones.”

Then Ezekiel hears a sound, a rattling.

Bones begin moving before the restoration is complete.

John the Baptist — John 1

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”

Before people recognize Messiah, a voice prepares the way.

The disciples “Follow me.”

Peter; Andrew; James; John; Matthew…

They hear—and leave what they know.

Mary Magdalene — John 20

She sees Jesus without recognizing Him.

Then: “Mary.” She turns.

Paul — Acts 9

Light surrounds him.

But the encounter also contains a Voice:

“Saul, Saul…” His direction changes.

Pentecost — Acts 2

Before tongues like fire are seen:

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven…”

The Sound fills the house…

Then the people themselves become voices.

They hear a Sound from heaven—and become a sound in the earth.

The Sound does not merely inform, it summons.

Abraham hears—and leaves.

Moses hears—and returns.

Samuel hears—and responds.

Elijah hears—and comes out.

Isaiah hears—and volunteers.

Ezekiel hears—and speaks.

Mary hears—and turns.

The disciples hear—and follow.

Paul hears—and changes direction.

Pentecost hears—and becomes proclamation.

The Sound produces movement, that gives fresh texture to: “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

Faith does not merely agree with what it has heard.

Faith moves in response to what it has heard before sight supplies every detail.

Abraham did not see the destination, he heard: Go.

Moses did not see Israel liberated, he heard: I am sending you.

Isaiah did not know how his mission would conclude, he heard: Whom shall I send?

Peter did not see Pentecost, resurrection, or the worldwide church when Jesus said:

Follow me… they heard, and they walked.

Journal & Reflection

Pause here before moving on.

Write freely. These questions are invitations, not tests.

☐ Which biblical example of hearing and moving most resonates with you?

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☐ What have you heard that you have not yet acted upon?

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☐ What is the difference between agreeing with faith and moving in faith?

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☐ What sounds: fear, shame, ambition, grief, love, or Presence move you most often?

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☐ What would “Hear → Know → Follow” look like now?

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Do You Hear What I Hear? Chapter 1

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 18, 2026 | Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

by Carlo Griseta | Aug 18, 2026

The Sound of God

Genesis 3:8 is usually translated:

“They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the

day…

”

The Hebrew language is fascinating… the word translated

“sound”

is qol (קוֹל). It

can mean sound, voice, noise, thunder, or proclamation, depending upon its

context.

So Adam and Eve hear the qol of YHWH God moving through the garden, not

necessarily footsteps, not necessarily a voice speaking words. Simply—the sound

of His Presence.

The phrase traditionally translated “in the cool of the day

”

also contains the

Hebrew word ruach (ַרוּח), a word that can mean wind, breath, or spirit. In this

expression,

“

wind”

or

“breeze

” is probably the most natural meaning, but the

larger biblical resonance is difficult to miss: Breath… Wind… Sound… Presence.

Genesis gives us an almost sensory picture:

The sound of YHWH moving through the garden in the wind of the day.

What If God’s Sound Was Never Merely Footsteps?

We tend to imagine Genesis anthropomorphically:

Crunch… crunch… crunch… God walking through fallen leaves, perhaps, but what

if this language is also humanity’s attempt to describe The Presence becoming

perceptible?

Throughout Scripture, encounters with God repeatedly contain sound:

At Sinai there is thunder, trumpet, and voice.

Elijah encounters wind, earthquake, and fire, followed by the mysterious qol

demamah daqqah—traditionally translated “

a still small voice,

” though it may

convey something more like a thin silence, a gentle whisper, or the sound of sheer

stillness.Ezekiel describes divine manifestations with sounds like rushing waters.

Psalm 29 transforms

“the voice of the LORD” into almost cosmic music:

The V oice moves over the waters.

The V oice breaks cedars.

The V oice shakes the wilderness.

The V oice causes creation to tremble.

At Pentecost, Presence arrives with

“

a sound like the blowing of a violent wind.

”

Revelation repeatedly describes divine realities through waters, thunder, trumpets,

harps, voices, and songs.

Perhaps Presence has a sound:

Sometimes thunder.

Sometimes wind.

Sometimes voice.

Sometimes silence.

Sometimes song.

…and sometimes a sound so gentle that only the quiet recognize it.

Creation Begins With Sound

There is an enormous biblical pattern connecting creation, breath, voice, rhythm,

and song.

Job 38 imagines the morning stars singing together at creation.

The Psalms picture rivers clapping their hands, mountains singing, and heavens

declaring.

And Genesis itself begins with God speaking,

“And God said…

”

Creation begins not with a description of God's hands constructing the universe,

but with divine utterance:

God speaks… Light appears.God speaks… Waters separate.

God speaks… Earth emerges.

God speaks… Life multiplies.

Perhaps creation itself is, metaphorically, God’s song becoming visible.

Scientifically, sound involves vibration moving through a medium. Scripture is not

making a scientific claim about acoustics when it says God spoke creation into

existence. Yet the theological imagery is extraordinary: Reality responds to Voice.

Before humanity ever spoke to God, humanity existed because God had spoken.

Adam awakens inside an already-sounding creation: Wind moves. Water flows.

Creatures call. Human lungs fill with neshamah—breath, and eventually, Genesis

tells us that humanity hears the qol of YHWH moving through the garden.

Perhaps Adam did not need an introduction.

The text does not explicitly tell us,

“Adam recognized the sound,

”

so we should be

careful not to make it say more than it does, but Adam certainly knows whose

sound he is hearing, there is relationship here.

There is familiarity, and then something tragic happens, The Sound that once

belonged to communion is now heard through fear: God’s Presence has

approached; Adam hides. What changed? Perhaps not the Sound, perhaps

the hearer.

When Shame Changes the Way We Hear

The tragedy of Genesis 3 may not be that God suddenly became frightening, it may

be that shame changed humanity’s interpretation of God.

Adam says:

“I heard your sound in the garden, and I was afraid…

may describe far more of human spirituality than we realize…

” that sentence

I heard You—and fear interpreted what I heard.

Perhaps salvation therefore includes more than convincing an absent God to

approach us, perhaps it includes the healing of humanity until we can once again

experience the Presence of God without hiding from it.

Maybe the great spiritual question is not simply:

“Where is God?”Perhaps it is:

been here all along?”

“Have I become quiet enough to recognize the Presence that has

We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

Paul writes: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.

”

—2 Corinthians 5:7

We commonly understand this to mean: Trust even when you cannot see; that is

certainly part of it, but beside the garden story another beautiful possibility

emerges.

Genesis does not say that Adam saw God approaching; he heard the qol.

Then Romans says:

“Faith comes from hearing…

”

And Jesus says in John 10:

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow

”

me.

Notice the movement: Hear… Know… Follow.

Perhaps spiritual formation involves recovering our ability to recognize the

character of the V oice? After Eden, humanity still hears, but fear distorts

interpretation: The Presence that may once have communicated communion now

sounds like danger, and perhaps much of our spiritual journey involves the healing

of that distortion.

Maybe we begin learning again:

●

That Sound is not coming to destroy me.

That V oice is not approaching to humiliate me.

That Presence is not waiting for me to become worthy enough to come

near.

●

Love has always been moving toward us.

Mary in Another Garden

After the resurrection, Mary Magdalene stands near Jesus, she sees him, but she

does not recognize him, she assumes he is the gardener.

Then Jesus speaks one word: “Mary”

...and she knows.

Mary saw him and did not recognize him; she heard him—and turned.That is an extraordinary reversal of Eden.

In the first garden: Humanity hears the Sound and hides.

In the resurrection garden: Humanity hears the Voice and turns toward Him.

The first garden contains the sound of God approaching frightened humanity.

The resurrection garden contains the voice of God calling humanity by name.

Perhaps the gospel is, among many other things, the healing of our hearing, Faith

becomes recognition: Learning the Sound… Recognizing the V oice… Trusting the

Presence… and Turning toward what we once ran from.

We walk by faith rather than sight…

…because sometimes the deepest realities are recognized before they are fully

seen.

Isaiah: Undone by the Sound

Isaiah 6 contains another extraordinary encounter:

Isaiah does not merely receive information about God, he is overwhelmed,

“Woe is me…

”

Traditional translations sometimes render his response:

“I am undone.

”

The Hebrew carries the sense of being ruined, silenced, brought to an end.

Isaiah’s existing “categories” cannot contain what he has encountered, and notice

how much sound fills the scene:

The seraphim call to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy…

”

…and the thresholds shake at the sound of their voices:

Sound… Vibration… Presence… Awareness…

And Isaiah discovers that the self he has constructed cannot stand untouched

before what he has encountered.

We might think of something like sympathetic resonance: Place one tuned

instrument near another, strike the corresponding note, and a string on the second

instrument will begin vibrating. It did not manufacture the original sound, itresponded because it possessed the capacity to resonate with it and it was in

proximity to the other string.

What if Presence awakens something within humanity that was always capable of

responding to Presence?

Adam hears.

Isaiah hears.

Elijah hears silence.

Mary hears her name.

Jesus says:

“My sheep hear my voice.

”

Paul says:

“Faith comes by hearing.

”

Perhaps faith is not primarily straining harder to believe something invisible,

perhaps faith also involves becoming attuned, and what happens when an

instrument is tuned? It does not become a different instrument; it becomes capable

of sounding according to what it was created to be.

That sounds remarkably like formation: not adding Christ to fundamentally

worthless human beings; not manufacturing spirituality; not desperately trying to

pull God closer, but becoming sufficiently still… sufficiently awake… sufficiently

receptive…

…Until something within us begins resonating with the Presence already here.

Perhaps being “undone” is not ultimately annihilation, perhaps it is dissonance

giving way to harmony:

Fear loosens…

Shame loosens…

Performance loosens…

Ego loosens…

Religious identity loosens…

The false structures by which we protect ourselves begin loosening…

And what emerges is not less human, it is more fully human.Journal & Reflection

Pause here before moving on.

Write freely. These questions are invitations, not tests.

☐ What do you imagine when you hear “the sound of God”?

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☐ Where have you experienced God’s Presence through sound, silence, breath,

music, or another person’s life?

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☐ When have shame or fear changed the way you interpreted something good?

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__☐ What might it mean for you to become quiet enough to recognize Presence?

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☐ Where are you being invited to move from sight toward trust?

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