A Still Small Voice

(Image from www.stpetersbasilica.org)

People often ask how to connect with the Divine and with their inner voice. I’m no expert, but I recently reread an ancient text that offers an important key.

Three thousand years ago, a man named Elijah—a soul revered by Christians, Jews, and Muslims—illustrated an important principle.

Elijah wanted answers. He sought direction. “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord,” a voice told him, “for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Elijah did as he was instructed, an important example for all. Listen. Go. Do. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

As Elijah stood on the mountain, “a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the 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 came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” or, as another translation called it, “a still small voice.”

Often, our rate-limiting step to connection is our expectation. Our predetermined views of what our answer must be or how it may arrive obscures our perception of what our answer actually is. When Elijah was told to stand on a mountain because God was about to pass by, he must have had grand expectations, but his answer came in a gentle whisper.

Often, when I’ve set aside my expectations and quieted the distractions, my answer came in an unexpected way.

Be open. Be willing. Be humble.