Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
I love the story from the first reading today where Elijah encounters God in the wilderness. It juxtaposes the fire and brimstone God that is described in the well-known Rich Mullins worship song, Awesome God: “There’s thunder in his footsteps and lightning in his fists (our God is an awesome God).” I’ve written before that most things in our boys’ world focus on superheroes and powers. I often remind them that Jesus’ greatest power is that of his immense love for us--he died on the cross out of great love. Our great and mighty God is good, compassionate, and merciful.
When Elijah landed in the cave, the word of the Lord came to him and asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” What a great question. If you are like me, you find yourself often wondering the same thing. What exactly is going on here, who are we really, and what am I called to do? Elijah summed it up. “I have been most zealous for the Lord, God of hosts. But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.” (1 Kgs 19:10) Can you hear his panic? Everything had gone desperately wrong. Elijah had attempted to do the right thing but found instead failure, dishonor, and danger. Can you relate to the feeling of pouring yourself into something and having it all fall apart, leaving yourself desperate for some intervention? God wasn’t in the wind. He wasn’t in the earthquake. He wasn’t even in the fire. He was in the gentle whisper. What an incredible encounter for Elijah. Think of the last time someone whispered something to you. They weren’t on the other side of the room, they were close. Imagine Christ whispering to you; what would he be saying? Our good God is here, present in our lives.
God was found in the “tiny whispering sound,” in the quiet, in the encounter. How surprising, especially if we have an expectation of a strong, mighty, all-powerful God! As human beings, perhaps we have come to expect that power is shown in loud and flashy displays of strength. Our world today is so loud. We want to stand on a battle line on the side of good and load up our weapons. We roar and burn and clash. But what if we listened instead? What if we quieted ourselves long enough to listen to the gentle whisper of God, covered our faces, and humbly laid it all before Him, our worries and challenges, hopes and fears? So, it is all the more fitting that God defies our expectations, challenges us to quiet our hearts and minds, and find Him in the ordinary whispers of everyday life. What a great reminder to admire God’s power as I feel the breeze, hear the wind chimes and chirping birds, smell the flowers or fresh-cut grass and to delight in these seemingly ordinary and usual occurrences. It feels all the more important today, as we are surrounded by noise, loud voices, hatred, and disdain to take a step back and recognize God’s powers in the tiny whispering sounds.
Let us turn down the noise and listen for the whispering sound. What we consume–physically and spiritually–impacts our health and well-being. Let the toxicity of fear, worry, stress, anxiety and ego slowly start to starve to death and lose their grip. May we be fed and freed by the voice of our good and gracious God.
Peace,
Brandon Meyer