Dora the dog has laryngitis.

The problem arose last week. Dora would jump on the sofa to beg. Part of her begging technique is to bark at me until I notice her sitting on the sofa beside me. I am then to ask, “Show me what you want.” She runs to the kitchen to the drawer where the doggy treats are hidden. She stands at the door with tail wagging and barks until I open the door. The dog will then make her doggy treat selection. I am very well trained.

Last week she would jump on the sofa and move her mouth to bark and nothing came out. She could muster a squeak. I remember the puzzled puppy look on her face. Since then she gets very close to me to beg and gives it her best shot. It is amusing to see her mouth moving with nothing significant coming out. She has missed her weekly barking opportunities. The men who haul the garbage cans to the street came and went on Monday. No comment from the dog.

The lawn men showed up early this week to mow. No comment from the dog. The wind blew and nothing. She tries, but can produce no volume. She even escaped one night and wanted back in the yard. The only way I knew of her doggy plight was that other dog came and got me and ratted Dora out. So for the first time in aphorism history I can say truthfully, her bite is worse than her bark.

I’m wondering what would happen if our inner voice developed laryngitis. We all have that inner voice that tells us stories. Your inner voice might be affirming of your abilities, opportunities and your life in general. For many though the inner voice is a reminder of every failure and flaw we possess. The inner voice can lead us astray because the scripts that are used are often not fully formed. The scripts we learned as children have never had the adult interpretation applied to them. Some are living out of the criticisms they heard on the playground in the third grade.

We never quiet feel good enough because so many times we have been told or shown we are not good enough. Our inner voice will remind us of that fact any time we succeed. What would change if we had a different inner dialogue?

So if our inner voice suddenly had laryngitis, we might be able to hear another voice speaking to us. Scripture encourages us in several places to be still or be silent in order to know the presence of God. How would your external life change if your internal dialogue changed?

How would you live differently if you heard the voice of God calling to your soul and saying, “You are my child in you I am well pleased.”

We are promised that God will make all things new, even our inner dialogue.