Skip to main content

Sound of Sheer Silence

If you google "Sound of sheer silence" you will find our passage for today.
Today’s scripture is 1 Kings 19:11-13. The passage is set after Elijah had killed the prophets of Baal then fled for 40 days in the desert.
I cannot fathom what it was like for Elijah. He had defended God, shown God’s power by killing all the prophets of Baal, shed so much blood, and the dramatic calling down of fire from heaven to burn the soaking wet offering to Baal. Terrified that Queen Jezebel would have him murdered, Elijah left to seek God’s presence, but first he had to get to God’s holy mountain, on the other side of the desert.
That desert comes up again.  The desert is a place of great beauty (as one of you shared with me this week) and terrible danger; people die of exposure and dehydration in deserts. Elijah must have been completely spent by the time he reached the holy mountain.
Once there, Elijah felt confident that on this holy mountain, he would hear what God had to say to him. God was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. No, Elijah knew when the sound of sheer silence arrived that he was in God's presence. 
(Perhaps we can seek God's presence ourselves if we can find 3-5 minutes to just sit in the quiet, not doing anything but breathing and stilling ourselves, not even praying, but just sitting, perhaps then we can begin to hear afresh God's voice.)
This passage, about Elijah on the holy mountain seeking and listening for God struck me afresh this morning. God asks Elijah more than once, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
Indeed, why are you here?
Do we, like Elijah, seek to hear God’s voice?
Do we, like Elijah, seek rest for our weary bones?
Or is it something else?

Why are you here?

Comments

  1. Kena JoFebruary 20, 2018 at 8:05 PM

    Oh of course I would love to hear God's voice! I remember when I was a small child asking my grandfather about the time he knew God had spoken to him. Did he hear a voice?, did he see an angel?, how did he know it was really God? I found the answer quite unsatisfactory at the time. He just "knew" and all was well.
    Today I ask similar questions in regards to myself. How will I know it is really God and not my own thoughts?,
    how do I sort out what is from Him and what is just my own impulse or guilt?, what if I unknowingly fail to respond to God's request?, what does God specifically expect of me?, what if I say no?, can I engage God in coversation without feeling like I am talking to myself? have I actually heard or felt the presense of God? (Yes - I do ask alot of questions).
    On second thought maybe it is better that I don't hear God, for there is a little part of me that fears what he might want me to do. I remember bits of stories in the Bible about the wild-eyed crazy adventures God asks some people to undertake. I know I do not have the courage or conviction to even attempt anything close to that.
    Yet, on the other hand, I still find myself seeking my place in the world, seeking my place with God, looking for the assurance that I, me, myself, am of value to Him, and maybe, just maybe be of good to someone else. Now, if I can only find a way to shut my chattering brain off in order to be silent.
    Namaste
    Kena Jo

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holy Saturday

From Rachel Matthews - Today I have been chopping, measuring, mixing, cooking, mixing some more, kneading, baking, waiting, waiting, tasting, arranging, cleaning, preparing.....and preparing....for guests. It is what you do at a funeral. Either you are preparing to serve and comfort the bereaved or, as the bereaved, you are preparing to receive the community, the family, the loved ones to walk with you to the grave and back again. Holy Saturday feels like the days before a funeral. Suspended between death and life, you just carry on. You work, as usual, but not. That's what the women who loved the Rabbi were doing: preparing the spices, arranging the body (Christ's body), wrapping, loving and weeping, and waiting, and waiting and preparing....for guests. I am giddy thinking about the surprise that awaited them - the Guest!! And, I am giddy waiting for our guests to come to our home. My boys won't be here, so there is grief. I miss them so much. But, the new Amer...
Post a Comment
Read more

Good Friday: We Don't Know What We're Doing

From Eric Corbin... As I write, I have just returned from the joint Good Friday service with First Methodist Church.  Their pastor read from Luke's account of the crucifixion of Jesus, ending at verse 34 of chapter 23: "Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.'"  We also heard a wonderful soloist sing from "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" the haunting words "We didn't know it was you." I'm reminded of this meme: I think we all feel that way sometimes, maybe often.  We don't know what we're doing in our families, our jobs, in our churches.  On this day, though, we must reflect specifically on the cross and our role in Jesus' death; on how we don't know what we're doing when it comes to Jesus. "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" continues: You have shown us how And we are trying Master you have shown us how Even when you were dying Just seems like we can't do right Lo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friday Fast #1

A note up front: in writing this post, I'm not able to follow the author's instruction to not reveal your fast to others. Today, we begin the first of the Friday Fasts the author describes.  When I read the subtitle, "Drink Only Water (Eat as Usual), I thought I'd have no troubles with this one!  Most days I do drink only water.  I rarely drink coffee or other hot drinks, and almost every meal is accompanied by a glass of water.  Each day, I carry around my First Pres water bottle with, you guessed it, just water in it.   So, no problem for me.  I'll get "credit" for this fast without even trying!  Then I read further and found this instruction: "Drink only water, without ice and without flavoring. Hot or warm water is okay."  Darn.  I love  ice water, the colder the better.  I'm supposed to drink warm or even hot water?  Not my cup of, er, water...but I'm going to do it today.  I'm going to focus on the big questio...
Post a Comment
Read more