I can’t quite recall all the details. What I do recall, though, is that when I was in Dallas, there was this Christian radio program that gave out as much as $ 5,000 to anyone who was able to identify the sound of a chosen machine.

I was not all that interested with the sounds of any machine until I relocated to the Twin Cities and started working at FedEx-Kinkos. In helping customers send fax to different destinations, I have slowly but surely come to identify tree types of sounds/noises:

1. A sound that indicates that the line is busy.

2. A sound that tells you that you have used the wrong fax number.

3. A sound that tells you that the fax is going outside of the USA.

4. The sound that I refer to as “good noise.” This is the sound that tells you that the fax has gone through and that you should, therefore, wait as the process completes.

It is the fourth noise that always makes people excited. Every time I say “that is a good
noise,” I see a smile on a customer’s face with the remark “a good noise!” Sounds like
a contradiction of terms.

This mastering of the various fax machine sounds/noises has helped me to understand,
appreciate, and apply God’s concern as found in the book of Isaiah 1:3. It reads:

“The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger,but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

It was Pastor Maturi, back in Kenya, Africa, who presented a message based on this text many years back that hit me real hard. Just think about this. It’s a known factor that even an animal knows the sound/noise of its master. If such be the case, how about us?!

All these have led to the following questions/observations:

1. What kind of noise/sound do you send out daily to your family members, church members, fellow students, students, community? Is it a good one or an irritating one?

2. Do you know/understand God’s sound? If not, why?

Just a thought.

Pr Bari 612-386-4608
www.themaranathasdachurch.org