When I am under stress, a second voice often speaks to me. It’s a calming voice, and often tells me what the outcome will be to the challenge I am confronting.
It’s not unusual to experience a second voice.
Religion and science are converging on the idea of a second voice that speaks to us. There’s only one small difference:
Religion believes the second voice is God talking to us. Science believes the second voice resides inside of us.
Let’s explore both sides of the issue.
Religion: The Old Testament says God spoke to Moses. French history says God spoke to Joan of Arc. And Mormon history says God spoke to Joseph Smith. Moses was directed by God to lead the children of Israel out of slavery from the powerful pharaohs in the land of Egypt. Joan (1412-1431) was told by angels that it was God’s will to lead a French army to victory against the British towards the end of the 100 Years War. Smith (1805 -1844) was directed by God to restore the primitive church Jesus established. It became the new theocratic Great Basin Kingdom in the western part of the United States in the 1850’s.
Science. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) discovered two minds within us: the conscious mind and the unconscious (sub-conscious) mind. In 1976, Julian Jaynes wrote about the birth of consciousness and the breakdown of the bicameral mind. As humankind was evolving, the ego was fragile, and needed a second subconscious voice to support the ego as it developed strength. And recently, Professor Charles Ferneyhough of Durham University in England has discovered that “self talk” occurs in two different regions of the brain. One region deals with monologue, the other with dialogue.
Personally, I’m have become a proponent of Ferneryhough’s self talk. Like him, I believe the two voices of my own self talk reside in two different regions of my brain. When I’ve been under stress in one region, the second voice in the other region engages with reassuring messages and advice. I have referred to it in my writing as “the voice”. But it’s not a stretch for me to label it the god voice within me.
I’ve been thinking about this amazing experience I’ve had for more than thirty-five years. The question for me has been, did those religious figures I mentioned above have their experiences from the voice of God outside of them, or did it come from the god voice inside of them? I think they had profound spiritual revelations from the god voice within them.
The good news is, the second voice resides inside all of us, and we access it without realizing it.