A Voice of Gentle Stillness
Was it coincidence--or something more? (2014)
I often have trouble sleeping. Sometimes, instead of just lying there, I'll turn on the light and read for awhile, trying to get my mind off whatever it is that's keeping me awake.
I was having one of these nights in early October of last year. When it became evident that I wasn't going to be able to sleep, I turned on the light. I keep a Bible on the bedside table. I opened it at random and started reading. Right now, I can't remember what it was--something about some ancient kings that the writer either really did--or didn't--approve of.
After a couple of chapters that were just slightly more interesting than the "begats," I started feeling drowsy. I turned off the light and was able to drift off.
A week or so later, I heard a NPR report about a child of Holocaust survivors who had written about the problem of how, if God exists, could He have allowed such evil to take place? The man sent a letter about it to Pope Frances--who actually emailed him back.
Although this was pretty extraordinary, it probably wouldn't have been news if it didn't happen during the early, heady days of Frances' papacy, when even his emails made headlines.
In his message the Pope made a reference to a Biblical passage, which the reporter wasn't savvy enough to follow up on: I Kings chapter 19 verse 12. I'm a big fan of Pope Frances and was curious what he would have been referring to, so I made a mental note of book, chapter, and verse, telling myself I'd look it up later when I had a free moment down the road.
On October 23, I was having another one of those nights. Sometime between three and four I turned on the light. I remembered the quote from Pope Frances and thought this was an opportune time to look it up. I picked up the Bible and opened it to the place I had bookmarked a couple of weeks before. To my surprise, it was I Kings, chapter 19. The somewhat pedestrian narrative of the reign of various kings was suddenly interrupted by one of the more profound and poetic passages in the Old Testament. The prophet Elijah is listening for the Lord. Starting with verse 11, it reads:
...the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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.
What are the chances that a random opening of the Bible weeks before should end precisely where I would want to find a deeply meaningful passage much later?
I have thought a lot about coincidences like this.They seem to insist, in a quiet way, that I pay attention to their implications; an actual example of the still, small voice in the passage.In this case, I think it is obvious that I was being instructed --not for the first time--to listen to the intuition and insights that come in quiet moments, often when I'm not even looking for them.And perhaps this is a way the Holy Spirit communicates: not in the whirlwind of human activity, but in the words of another translation, with "the voice of gentle stillness" that comes afterwards.