Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 10, 2008 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[1 Kings 19:9A, 11-13A; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33]A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord - but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, elijah hid his face in is cloak and went and stood at the entrance to the cave.
A particular (and popular) visual game that I have had occasion to use is known as "Where's Wally?" For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it consists of complex drawings in which the figure of a character called Wally appears in some way a certain number of times. The object of the game is to find all the figures of Wally! It can be challenging because of the sheer complexity of the illustrations. One might be excused for thinking of this game when one reads the famous scene from the life of Elijah in the First Book of Kings. Where is the Lord? In the midst of complicated and awesome powers - wind, fire and earthquake - Elijah does not find the Lord. It is only when something very small and quiet comes that the voice of God comes to him. It's just in time because Ahab and Jezebel are out to get him! All of us probably have points in our lives when things get overwhelming. Life gets a bit too complex and demanding or there's a crisis of some kind, and we lose focus, especially spiritual focus. It becomes hard to find God in all of this because we think somehow God has to be as awesome and complex as our problems in order to help us. This is when it's advisable, spiritually (and perhaps psychologically, emotionally and physically) to sit still, take a deep breath and pay attention to the "tiny whispering sound" that we have allowed to be drowned out by all the noise we allow in our lives. There's no such thing as a "quick fix" in spirituality. It does require effort over a good period of time. However, we can get a good start by allowing some quiet into our lives - by creating the conditions under which we can hear the tiny whispering sound. The Ahabs and Jezebels and similar threatening forces are no match for the Lord, but in order to know what to do, we have to be able to listen. AMEN
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