Tiny Whispers

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Elijah, hear, Kings, listen, mountain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice of God, whisper

Today we’re again reminded that God can be a surprise, appearing where and when we least expect a such a gift. (See 1 KGS 19:9A, 11-13A) The prophet Elijah is taking shelter on Horeb, “the mountain of God.” (Mountains often figure in these stories for some reason: their opportunity for solitude? the successful challenge of the climb? nearness to heaven? or…perhaps none of the above.) Elijah hears the voice of God saying, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.” As we probably have heard, many loud and visually cataclysmic events followed then that he could not have missed: wind, earthquake, fire…but God was not in any of those happenings. It was “a tiny whispering sound” that Elijah heard and recognized as God’s voice.

How could he have heard God in that tiny moment? I think the only answer can be: practice. Elijah was one of the major prophets and obviously one who was practiced in listening. That was his job: being alert for God’s messages to the people. As such he was probably aware of any small shift in conditions inside and out. Maybe his emotions were stirred. Maybe he had a felt sense in his body…I don’t know.

What I do know and am more aware of as I reflect on this familiar text is that there’s a lot of noise in the world today – much of it negative and loud. It doesn’t feel to me that there is much mountain climbing to achieve solace and hear the voice of God. There are lots of zoom calls though and some are helpful. I meet with one group that I think might approximate Elijah’s ability to hear God in the midst of babble. Sometimes it’s hard not to try to fill the silence when no one is speaking. I’m learning, however, that this is the experience that I need to value the most because everyone is silently listening for the word of God to come through. And it is usually not a bombastic declaration. Most often the word is spoken in little more than a tiny whisper. And we are all trying to hear…Do you know what I mean?

Good Grandparents

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compassion, Jesus, King Solomon, kingdom of heaven, Kings, Matthew, psalm 119, Romans, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, treasure, understanding heart

Today we celebrate Saints Anne and Joachim, parents of Mary, Mother of Jesus. If we ever needed to speak of what makes up the image of a good grandparent or any person of wisdom, each of today’s readings is a noble start:

1. In a dream God invites Solomon to ask for something that will help him in his life. It is a beautiful exchange (1 KGS 3:5, 7-12) wherein Solomon shows his wisdom, asking God: Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
2. In Psalm 119:77, the psalmist asks God: Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.
3. Paul reminds the Romans (8:28): We know that all things work for good for those who love God…
4. And, in conclusion, Jesus tells his disciples (MT 13: 44…) The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Are you ready, with all the above currency, to go and buy the field?

Where’s the Fire?

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belief, Elijah, faith, Kings, prophets, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Sometimes I muse on what it would have been like to have lived in the pre-Christian era when access to God was (it seems, anyway) much more direct. Some of the stories are quite fantastic and one wonders if belief in God would have been easier then because of a different kind of presence. Take today’s first reading for example (1 KGS 18: 20-39), when there was a contest of prophets going on. Elijah was the sole surviving prophet representing the Lord, God of Israel, while there were 450 prophets representing Baal. Luckily for the Israelites there was not going to be a military engagement to settle the question of whose God was Lord. You may remember that the matter was settled with a burnt offering. The Baals prepared their fire and spent an entire morning calling on their god with all manner of pleading and activity but nothing happened. When it was Elijah’s turn, he proceeded through a complicated but reasonable ritual of preparation, giving directions to the gathered community for their part in the preparation. When it was the time for offering sacrifice, Elijah stepped forward saying (Can you imagine the scene?): Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all things by your command. Answer me, LORD! that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to their senses…”

Imagine what it would be like to see the fire that burst forth, consuming the burnt offering, wood, stones and dust as well as all the water in the trench they had dug around the altar of sacrifice. It must have been stunningly convincing…I sometimes long for that kind of force, what likely seems to us a “magic moment,” but it seems that evolution has taught us and brought us a different, perhaps more humanized path—the way of the heart, we might say.

Today we are called to follow a path that leads us to an inner experience of the God we know as Love. Belief in this God is sometimes revealed to us in a “still, small voice,” a knowing that we say “cannot be taught but only caught,” spreading somewhat like Elijah’s fire, but without the visible display. Sometimes we just have to believe the evidence we see in the beauty of the universe in which we live, the good works and generosity of the people we meet and the witness of those whose belief and actions inspire us to become better persons. Although the pyrotechnics would seem an easier way to faith, I’m happy to live now when faith is engendered from the inside and is a personal choice every day but lasts a lifetime.

Taste And See…

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eating, Elijah, generosity, Jesus, Kings, psalm 34, strength, Taste and See, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

From the prophet Elijah to Jesus, today’s readings speak of the importance of eating to keep up our strength for living – both physically and spiritually. We find Elijah journeying into the desert (1 KGS 19:4-8) where, in a moment of desperation, he lies down under a tree and asks God to let him die. Instead, an angel wakes him and orders him – twice – to eat, having provided the food that will keep him alive and strong on his trek through the desert (a forty-day trip) to Horeb, the mountain of God.

The psalmist is eloquent in calling us to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord” in one of the most lyrical and inviting of the entire Book of Psalms. “Glorify the Lord with me,” he sings. “Look to God that you may be radiant with joy!…Taste and see how good the Lord is; blessed is the one who takes refuge in God.” (PS 34:2-9)

John’s gospel has Jesus speaking boldly of himself as “the living bread that has come down from heaven. This bread,” he promises, “is my flesh for the life of the world.”  (JN 6:41-51)

There are so many ways we could reflect on these readings today.  We might consider our need for bodily sustenance and our responsibility for feeding not only ourselves but also those who do not have enough food. We could think metaphorically about spiritual food and our longing to strengthen our desire for God in Eucharist or other prayerful exercises. Or…

As I prepare breakfast for the retreat participants here at our center for the weekend, I will try to maintain a focus of generosity, adding love as the main ingredient of the food to be offered to them. What will be your practice concerning food today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Just That Simple

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assumptions, cure, Kings, lesson, Naaman, simpler, solution, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There’s a great lesson in today’s first reading (2 KGS 5:1-15) about Naaman, the Syrian army commander who was “highly esteemed and respected” by his master, the king of Aram. At issue was the fact that Naaman was a leper and that his wife’s Israeli slave girl suggested that he could be cured by Elisha, the prophet in Samaria. The king of Aram was all for the idea and sent Naaman with all sorts of expensive gifts to the king of Israel with a letter containing the request that Naaman be cured.

Two assumptions were made in the story that could have derailed the process.

1. The king of Israel assumed that the king of Aram was asking him (not the prophet Elisha) for the actual cure and that his motive was to instigate a “quarrel” (ostensibly a political challenge) so he became enraged.
2. When told what he had to do to be cured (to wash seven times in the Jordan River), Naaman became enraged because he assumed that the task was too simple and that the water in his own country should have been just as healing as that in Israel.

Thank goodness for the servants and the prophet who talked sense to the angry ones and facilitated the cure, the lesson being a familiar one: “Never assume…or jump to conclusions because the solution might be simpler than you could ever imagine.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Attention

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Elijah, God, incredible, Jesus, Kings, Matthew, ordinary, Peter, recognize, storm, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, walk on water

How does God get your attention? How do you pray for God to attend to you? When God shows up, do you recognize and accept how God comes? Today’s lectionary readings hold examples of two such situations for our consideration.

In the first, we have the story of Elijah the prophet on the mountain of Horeb who was instructed by God to leave the cave where he had found shelter in order to encounter “the Lord who will be passing by.” All sorts of wild signs arose: heavy wind, earthquake, fire…extraordinary conditions that might suggest such an extraordinary vision – but no, the Lord was in none of those signs. Thank goodness Elijah was astute enough to recognize the Lord “in a tiny whispering sound” or he would have missed God’s visitation. (1 KGS 19: 9-13) So God might show up anywhere, any time and we need to be ready for the unexpected.

In the gospel, there is also an unexpected event – a storm on the sea – when Jesus is off on a mountain by himself and the disciples are in a boat with waves crashing mightily against it, suggesting it might sink. This time, God sends Jesus walking toward them and they don’t recognize him because he is – like in the Book of Kings – coming in a way that seems impossible. He’s walking on the water. Peter, the impetuous one, challenges the vision that they think is a ghost by saying, “If it’s you, tell me to come to you across the water.” When Jesus says, “Come,” Peter jumps in and does fine until he remembers that he is doing something impossible so he starts to sink. Jesus saves him, of course. (MT 14: 22-33)

So whether God shows up in the ordinary, or in some totally incredible circumstance, we need to be ready and open to accept and respond to what comes to us, even if it calls us to trust what seems impossible, in order to have an experience that is beyond anything we have ever known.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Describing Heaven

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heaven, idea, kingdom of heaven, Kings, Luke, Matthew, near death experience, self-esteem, Solomon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, treasure, understanding heart, wisdom

There has been lots of speculation over the history of this world of what heaven is like. The difficult thing about any definition is that nobody is really sure. People have talked about “moving toward the light” and other sensations as part of near death experiences but it seems there is no absolute definition, primarily because we live in this realm for now and can only speculate about the next. The gospel for today (MT 13:44-52) gives a few good similes, however, that can help us begin to consider what heaven might feel like at least. They’re very familiar: the joy of finding a treasure in a field, the willingness of selling everything to buy a pearl of great price…but then Jesus talks a bit more seriously about our responsibility not to be swayed by externals. At the end of this morning’s text he says that every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.

I find that a very helpful sentence and know the truth of it from my experience of life where so much has changed over the past half century. One of my housemates is fond of quoting our novice director who said (among many other pieces of advice): “Don’t be the first to jump on the bandwagon of any idea or trend, but don’t be the last.” In other words use your mind and intuition to come to a decision on what is good in a changing world.

One of the wisest  personages in the Scriptures is Solomon and he appears in today’s lectionary as well. When God gives Solomon “a blank check” for a reward (1KGS 3:5, 7-12) he doesn’t ask for anything material but rather speaks of being young and inexperienced and therefore says: “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge people and to distinguish right from wrong.” Great answer! Would that we would all be so wise!

Perhaps it seems I have veered off from my original intent of writing about what heaven could be like. Not so! All of this is building to a statement of Jesus that seems finally in our lifetime to be considered by many as a way to proceed in this life and to prepare for the next. Not part of today’s readings but essential to this consideration is LK 17:21. Jesus says (perhaps shockingly) “The kingdom of God (or heaven) is within you.” Some translations say “among you” or “in you midst” but the message is clearly that we needn’t wait for our death to live in heaven. It is here, lived by those whose wisdom is akin to Solomon’s. It doesn’t mean that everything is perfect but it does mean that we ought to be conscious of God’s presence working at all times and in all places and that we are to participate in this presence. That is a difficult teaching, especially if we live on the level of personality instead of “putting on the mind of Christ.”

I am stopped in my tracks here – thinking that I have opened a very large can of worms that takes more than a few sentences to bring to conclusion. So let me just make a few suggestions for reflection on what putting on the mind of Christ might mean that might lead to more and deeper consideration.

1. How would you feel if you found a treasure or won the lottery? What would you do with the money?
2. What is your most prized material possession? For whom or what person would you be willing to give it up or even share it?
3. What does the concept of “an understanding heart” mean to you? Can you think of times when someone has shown you an example of that reality in a big way?
4. What is the level of your self-esteem? Can you believe that the kingdom of heaven exists within you? That your actions and ways of relating further the reality of God in this life? Has anyone ever said anything to you indicating that kind of message (e.g. “You’re an angel!” or ” God must have put you in my life because…”) Did you believe it?

These are just beginning prompts for considering the possibility that we are, in fact, responsible for living the kingdom of God right here, right now. Can you see it? Are you even willing to entertain the concept? That would be a start…

 

 

 

 

 

Longing for the Lord

Tags

Elijah, encounters, Kings, listen, message, messages from God, psalm 27, seeking, speak, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wait in stillness, whisper

The lyrics of a favorite wisdom school chant go like this: Speak through the earthquake, the wind and the fire…ohhh, still small voice of Love. The story on which it’s based is familiar (from 1 KGS 19: 9-16). It begins with a frequent introduction to a prophetic text: “The word of the Lord came to him…” with a specific message that would make almost anyone run to be at the promised site where “the Lord will be passing by.” The question engendered by that line is whether or not “almost anyone” would be able to perceive the presence of the Lord since it was not even close to the way anyone would expect. The Lord does not appear in any extraordinary way – strong wind, earthquake or fire – but rather in a ‘tiny whispering sound” – a breeze, most likely.

I think we often dismiss messages from God because they come wrapped in ordinary conversation or thoughts during the day and because we don’t consider ourselves able or worthy of receiving such communications from God. I remind myself of that some days when my blog posts turn out quite different from the way they began and surprise me with the content. It’s nothing earth–shattering but I believe that in some way God has more of a hand in the message than I expect. Other times I hear something in the text of the day’s reading that fairly shouts out something I have never noticed before or something that validates an experience I have just had in interactions with other people. Being in a situation like what is happening here in Maine where almost 100 people are gathered to “seek the Lord while He may be found” provides fertile soil for that kind of happening. I actually felt God’s question to Elijah this morning when God said, “Elijah, why are you here?” It stopped me cold until I realized that Elijah’s answer was mine as well. “I have been most zealous for the Lord,” he said. I found more confirmation from Psalm 27 that followed. “I long to see your face, O Lord!”

Elijah’s situation and mission were very different from and more difficult than mine but the prompt for a response was clear and did its work. I will go through the day reflecting on the question of why I’m here and what I will take away from the experience. But I will not seek clear and bombastic messages from God. I will just wait in stillness for something to arise and/or be attentive to the “chance” encounters of the day as the potential for seeing that God’s face is everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Mother’s Prayer

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Kings, Luke, motherhood, mothers prayer, St. Monica, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, widow, widow of Nain

If you read the title of today’s blog first, you might think (as I did in typing it) of Saint Monica, who prayed for years for the conversion to a better way of life for her son, Augustine. But no, today’s two main readings depict stories of two widowed mothers – one in Zarephath in the Old Testament (1 KGS17:17-24), who encountered the prophet Elijah, and one in Nain (LK 7:11-17), who met up with Jesus. Both had sons that were close to death and both were healed through their mothers’ intercession. Even St. Paul got into the conversation, if obliquely. He was recounting the story of his conversion and some of his travels to people in Galatia and said the following: “God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart, was pleased to reveal his son to me.” (GAL 1:1-9).

I suspect there are many mothers who spend quite a bit of time each day conversing with God about their children – and not only when their children are young! It seems part of the “job description” of motherhood and all of us who have had the blessing of a mother who took the task seriously ought to thank them and thank God for listening to them. And maybe some, like my mother, have a closer position (re: God’s ear) these days as they watch over us from God’s vantage point. Praise be to God for mothers and those who have fulfilled that role for us in this life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Knows Best?

Tags

Elisha, humility, Israel, Kings, Naaman, ordinary miracles, prophet, River Jordan, servants, speak truth to power, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today’s first reading (2 KGS 5:1-15) could be staged as a somewhat comedic morality play. It’s the story of Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram who has leprosy. The events go like this. A little girl captured from Israel, the servant of Naaman’s wife, tells her mistress that the prophet Elisha in Israel could cure Naaman. The wife speaks to the king who says to Naaman, “Go to the King of Israel.” The King of Israel is incensed by Naaman’s request (thinking that Naaman is asking him for a cure which is obviously not in his skill set) and says, “Is the king of Aram trying to provoke me?!” Elisha overhears this event and goes to Naaman telling him to wash seven times in the River Jordan. Now Naaman gets angry like the king, looking for something more spectacular for the cure and saying they have better rivers where he lives if that’s all it takes. His servant asks the core question of the story when he says, “If the prophet had asked you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it?” Naaman recognizes the truth in the question and humbly goes to the Jordan where he is healed. Happily, he acknowledges the cure and the power of the God of Israel.

I like this story and say to myself, “Let’s hear it for the servants!” The servant girl to Naaman’s wife is moved by compassion and trust in the power of her God to heal through the prophet Elisha. The servant of Naaman is willing to “speak truth to power” as a reality check for Naaman and his behavior. I see the moral of the story that can be a lesson for us as two-fold. 1) Keep humility close in order to avoid bursts of hubris in any situation where you feel challenged. 2) Be awake to the ordinary miracles in your everyday life. Sometimes solutions are simpler than they appear.