I grew up in a family of five children and it was usually noisy in our house. There were those that called us the loud family. We would run after each other laughing and shouting around and around the kitchen table. It was necessary to shout if you were going to be heard.

There would even be the sound of a basketball hitting the floor most of the time making it even harder to communicate.

Later I was given my own car. It was a Ford Falcon six-cylinder with a three-speed shifter on the column. The first thing I did was to put some holes in the muffler so you could hear it better. Thinking back, it didn’t sound good, it was just louder; sort of a roaring sound as I recall. It seemed to have more power but in truth it was not more powerful, just a louder obnoxious roaring sound.

Through life we have all encountered people that are loud talkers. Some of them might have been raised as I was and had to talk loud to be heard. Others may be hard of hearing, and when you cannot hear, you have a tendency to talk loud.

I have been with people who have ear phones on and they tend to talk loud because they cannot hear their own voice because of the ear phones.

There is, however, a third kind of person that talks loud. This is someone who is trying to force their opinion on you. These people think they know it all but their knowledge is usually based on less than all of the facts. They will take a piece of the picture and build a conviction on it. They are the ones who will march into your office and let you have it because you are not seeing it their way; right or wrong. They are the loudest voice in the meeting that is going to be heard whether or not it is the best for all concerned.

Like my Ford Falcon six-cylinder, they are just making a roaring obnoxious sound. Why then do we give in to such a voice? Are we so unaware of the facts that we believe what they are saying, or are we intimidated by them? If a person is loud and assertive, does that make what they are trying to force on you the truth of the matter?

These and other life questions will be addressed Sunday morning as “The Gathering Place Family” meets in the Washington Junior High School Library for Bible Study at 9:30 and in the gymnasium at 10 a.m. for our Pre-Service Connection where we enjoy coffee, juice and donuts. Our Worship Service and Children’s Church then begins at 10:30. Come at 7 p.m. and be part of our Wednesday night Bible Study and Children’s Ministry on the third floor above Trends at 120 W. Court St. in Washington Court House.