A Voice Both Great and Small

            Our pilgrimage group has departed for the northern areas in the Holy Land. Today we were blessed to see three sites which are important in the Bible and the life of the Church. This morning we went to Caesarea Maritima, an ancient port in the north of Israel. It is a magnificent place: an old hippodrome (horse and chariot racing stadium) and ruins of a bathhouse, as well as an ancient amphitheater that, to all appearances, is still quite functional. All this is located along the rocky coast of the Mediterranean, where one sees blue waves and white caps crashing upon the rocks. It is here that Peter went after receiving a dramatic vision. This vision consisted of a sheet which held all manner of animals, some of which were considered unclean by Jewish purity laws. God told Peter to kill and eat the animals (Peter had been rather hungry before receiving this vision). He later understood it to mean that God was calling him to eat with the Gentiles and minister to them, something verboten to the practicing Jew of the time (Acts 10). God spoke to Peter in a dramatic way, calling him to a great mission to convert the Gentiles.

            We also prayed at and stayed at the Stella Maris monastery of the Carmelite Order. After dinner, one of the priests took a large group of us down to the basilica which features the Cave of Elijah. There is a beautifully elaborate basilica built around a humble cave in which there is nothing but an altar, a statue of Elijah and a place for candles. Tradition tells us that it was in this cave that Elijah heard God. In one of the most beautiful passages of the Scriptures, we read:

And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks 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 still small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave (1 Kings 19:11-13).

Indeed, I found the simple cave to be one of the most moving places to pray. The basilica was a beautiful church. It featured fine frescos, beautiful statues and memorials to some of the most important Carmelite saints. Yet in the midst of these testimonies to the grandeur of God, the humble cave was featured as the central part of the church, as the quiet place in which God whispered to the prophet.

            This juxtaposition of two dramatically different places in which God spoke to one of his servants was fitting, for it expresses something of the way in which God is present to each one of us. Very often we desire to have God speak to us in dramatic visions or a loud, thundering voice or a bright flame of light. Indeed, God sometimes speaks in such ways to each one of us. However, God far more often speaks in the small, still voice. This voice is heard only when we allow ourselves to be silent and simply wait upon the Lord. Even in the midst of the stresses of our day to day life we must take a moment to ignore the firestorm of work and the thundering of our daily demands to listen – listen for that small, still voice.