“At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the LORD came to him, ‘Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.’ 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 his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, ‘Elijah, why are you here?’ He replied, ‘I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts…’”—1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-14
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Today’s first reading of the Catholic Daily Mass: whenever I read or listen to this story, I’m always hit. Who—What—is GOD? How does HE appear? How do we know?
When we think of GOD as distant and all powerful—and we as nearly nothing and small—we may expect or perceive GOD as something terrifying and powerful.
Maybe, sometimes, HE is.
But this passage shows such isn’t always or most often so.
When we truly look for GOD, rarely is he in forces that seek to project force and power, demand subjection or obeisance out of fear and trembling. Elijah shows this isn’t so. Where and how does GOD appear: “a tiny whispering sound.”
When we seek GOD in all-powerful signs and displays of force, maybe we miss HIS presence completely. To Elijah, GOD was not in these but arrived and appeared in the smallest, quietest, and most unexpected of ways.
How have you felt GOD in your own life?
For me, I don’t remember ever seeing HIM in displays of terrifying force. Often, discerning—like Elijah—I’ve felt him in the small. I’ve felt HIM in a moment of compassion when my heart and spirit were hurt: kindness of stranger, same from friend, the perfect words spoken in a moment when my soul needed to hear. I’ve seen HIM in the sky, not in terrifying storm, but palette of colors and light that opened chambers of the heart I did not know were there and invited me, by beauty, to open, follow, and trust HIM in what I could not understand.
How often does GOD and CHRIST appear to us as to the apostles on the road to Emmaus or Sea of Tiberius by fireside: someone, something, completely normal and then by sign—which spirit recognizes immediate when shown—we see HIM for who HE is?
GOD is not distant. GOD is not far. HE is ever and always near. May we recognize HIM today: in “a tiny whispering sound” that finds its way into our ear or whatever gentle form in which HE may appear inviting us to follow, love, and greater trust the Way of HIS designs.
Should something seek to coerce, command or subject from force of power and fear—that isn’t GOD. GOD is in the small, the gentle, “a tiny whispering sound” that moves our spirit—in invitation and in love—far greater than any fear.