Day 30 – Storm

Helensburgh Pier (DS)

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. (1Kings 19: 9-13)

Elijah lived in violent and turbulent times. He is exhausted, angry and despairing of life. There in his mountain exile, Elijah finds that God answers no questions and takes no sides. Nor does he offer much comfort. Instead, God stages a drama – a whirlwind, an earthquake, a fire – but God is in none of them. Then comes – what exactly? ‘Sheer silence’. No one knows quite how to translate these words. Elijah’s journey was from the mountain of his powerful achievements for God – from thunder and fire – to this silent, divine ‘nothing’. His faith must be recentred outside all human measures of presence, power and significance. What is here for him? Just God. We too need to lay down the burdens of faith and work to be deeply recentred, if we are not to despair. In the heart of the storms, with whatever we grasp of the world’s anguish, we wait in the ‘sheer silence’. And what is here for us? Just God.

(Extract from Dust & Glory by David Runcorn)

For Reflection

Faith is not an escape from a difficult world. It is a way of being present in the midst of it.

Prayer

Teach me, Lord, in the midst of this world’s anguish, to find the eye of the storm.