Yanny, Laurel, & Daily Choices

The 8th chapter of Proverbs includes a personification of Godly wisdom. Here is one passage from that chapter:
10 Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold;
11 For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion.

Where there is confusion or uncertainty, God offers clarity through His Word.  And, His Spirit, who goes with us, will help us to remember the Scriptures and enable us to apply His principles.  But, we have to draw on what we have placed in our hearts.  In order to make decisions that are consistent with Scripture, it is vital that we know the Word - really know it!  And, that comes through not only reading the Bible, but studying it, meditating on it, committing it to memory, and deciding to live by it!

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There is a passage in Psalm 34 that points to the sufficiency of Christ and the resources that He
makes available to His people.  We are even encouraged to "taste" His goodness:
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.

So, is it Yanny or Laurel?  Huh?

Have you tested out the latest Internet viral phenomenon?  It's an audio clip that includes a pronunciation of a word - depending on the audio settings of the device on which it plays, some are hearing Yanny, others Laurel.  I originally played the clip on two different computers, and heard it a different way on each.

It was thought to be a robot voice, but the CNET website shares a discovery:

We now have the answer, according to Wired (paywall), and it's a pretty astounding one.

It's not a robot.

It's an opera singer.

A member of the original Broadway cast of Cats.

And he allegedly recorded the audio you're hearing -- the word "Laurel" -- for this specific page at Vocabulary.com.

The Wired website quoted from Mark Tinkler, co-founder of Vocabulary.com, who said, "We hired a bunch of opera singers to record 200,000 words, basically," adding, "We set [the singers] up with laptops with really great microphones in a DIY sound booth. They would just sit there and a word would appear on the screen and they would say it. They did this thousands of times..."

The CNET story adds:

But how did this Vocabulary.com audio go viral? Wired traces that back to a Georgia high school freshman, Katie Hetzel, who was looking up the word "Laurel" for her world literature class, and Fernando Castro, a senior at the same school who saw her Instagram story and polled his fellow classmates -- much like you might be doing with your friends and family now.

CBS News had reported that Twitter users gave the nod to Laurel, 53 to 47%, but suffice it to say this clip came up during a search for "Laurel," so one would assume that is what it is.  What is "Yanny" anyway?

There have been parallels drawn to "the dress" Internet controversy, which had to do with the colors of a dress - according to a BBC story, some saw the colors of the dress as black and blue, others saw gold and white.  One plausible explanation has to do with how the brain processes color. One professor attributed it to the lighting.

So, these are quirky little exercises, but can remind us that daily we have choices that we can make.  Sometimes they are binary, other times you have a wide range of options, many occur just naturally in the ebb and flow of life, others we have to think - and perhaps pray - about.

But, a major choice each day, that can be reinforced throughout the day is whether or not to allow God's Word to guide the decisions we make.  And, according to the latest American Bible Society "State of the Bible" survey:

The more engaged someone is with the Bible, the more likely he or she is to recognize their need for it on a daily basis, according to the latest State of the Bible research from American Bible Society.

This is from a Religion News Service story, which states, "Among this group...61 percent said they must have the Bible as part of their daily routines when given a choice between the Bible, coffee, sweets and social media."  The article continues:

The research also gauged opinions of all Americans, regardless of their relationship with the Bible, and among that group 37 percent chose coffee, 28 percent chose something sweet, 19 percent chose social media and 16 percent chose the Bible.

That tells you a lot, doesn't it?  Even 39 percent of the most "Bible-engaged" related the necessity of something else that they "needed" on a daily basis.  And, more than double the percentage of Americans deemed coffee to be a necessity over the Bible.

In the midst of all the choices we make all day, the decision to submit to and apply the principles of Scripture is of paramount importance.  And, we may get off to a good start, but the daily grind might cause us to drift into self-reliance rather than Scripture-reliance.  Perhaps that is why David mentioned praising God seven times a day.

It can be a spiritual goal to continue to stay focused on the availability of God's presence and His principles.  We can regard His book as a source of wisdom and be challenged to remember to apply it to our situations.   We recognize that a regular time of Bible reading can help us to train and renew our minds, and give us clarity when confusion over daily decisions might set in.

Faith Radio can help provide daily spiritual nourishment and guidance.  Throughout the day, we offer quality Bible teaching, as well as music that is designed to remind you of God's abiding presence.  And, there are more ways than ever to listen to Faith Radio and our content: on the air, online, through our app, and through home devices. His Word brings life; His truth brings clarity in the choices we have to make.  More important choices than the pronunciation of a word or the color of a dress - we need His direction, and He has given us access to the riches of His knowledge and instruction.