August 13 2023 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Lord was not in the wind;
… the Lord was not in the earthquake;
… the Lord was not in the fire;
… and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
From 1 Kings 19: 9, 11-13 (NRSV)

This extract is taken from an account of the experience of Elijah in the Sinai desert. He has fled for his life into the wilderness and arrived at the Holy Mountain where Moses and the People had encountered God. They had witnessed the noise and drama of thunder and lightning and earthquake that spoke powerfully of God’s presence. Elijah also experienced those things but did not find God in them. He recognised God in what this translation calls the “sound of sheer silence” – and which others call “the still, small voice of calm” or ” the sound of a gentle breeze”. The fact that it is so hard to pin down tells us just how fleeting and hard to describe these moments are. It is where you are so close to the ultimate reality that you scarcely want to breathe. No drama – no storm – just a breathless moment of Presence.

• • When have you experienced a moment of “sheer silence” – a breathless moment when you were in tune with something much bigger than yourself?
  • How do such fleeting moments help us to deal with the noise and bustle of the rest of life?

Try, today, to find somewhere quiet and still and simply breathe in the Presence of God.