Not In The Thunder

I wrote this for my girlfriend's CD release concert. It explains 1 Kings 19:1-18, a section about the life of Elijah. The title of this post is the title of her track about the story.

"Elijah"

What if God were close?
What if God were intimate?
What if God were real?

What if these questions were not answered by a white cloud or lightning bolts or a long white beard?

What if God were more familiar, a still small voice?

The voice that says yes or no
The voice that says that’s not right or the voice that says this rings true
The voice that that says you are loved, the voice that gives you hope to carry on
A voice that can be hard to hear, confused by others, silenced by ourselves.

A voice that fights on, continuing to draw near to us,
A presence that will never leave

What if God could be heard in the beauty of our voices as well as the silent moments, the gaps?
The spaces that need to be filled.

Where should I look?

The sky, the wind, the trees, demonstrations of a mighty creation?

I could, but what of the sky and its temperamental black and blues, purple, oranges, and pinks, spotted by white masses? And the wind and its howling, whispers, and its stillness? And those trees – dead, alive, and dead again? Are they still growing?

What about me? Can I house something? Can I hear something?

Can parts of me be genuine? If only the ones affected by deep truths, the chills that run through me?

Yes.
Yes, I will listen.
Yes, I will recognize.
Yes, I will choose.
You are a God who still speaks.

© 2009 Josh W