Friday, December 8, 2023
- Reflection by Dr. Beth Elness-Hanson
1 Kings 19:11–12 NRSV
[The Lord] 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.
As most of life seems to demand attention, screaming at us in various ways, it is hard to navigate all the stuff to do. There is so much to manage, prepare for, and even fight to carve out time for what we know is lifegiving—a bit of time of solitude with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. At this time when I want to breathe deeply of the Advent season—which is increasingly meaningful for me the older I get—I am so easily distracted by the relentless tasks screaming for my attention.
However, I had a little reminder of this at a recent worship service here in Tanzania (I’m on a leave of absence from the faculty), where the sermon was preached through a PA system that was way too loud. The decibel meter app on my phone was consistently in the high 80s and low 90s, peaking at over 104, when the NIH states that “long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 [decibels] can cause hearing loss.” I didn’t have earplugs, so fortunately I was behind a pillar way in the back of the church and spent much of the sermon plugging my ears and reminded me of this text from Elijah’s narrative.
I am reminded that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that does the transformation, often through “a sound of sheer silence” (v.12). So, what is the metaphorical “plugging your ears” that will help you listen to the sound of sheer silence and find renewal in our Triune God today?
O God of our busy lives, thank you that you carry us through the cacophonies and chaos of life. Help us plug our ears to the distractions and unplug our ears to your voice, that we may be recentered in your presence through a sound of sheer silence in this special time of Advent.