9 August 2026 #beattentive

To begin writing a column, I look at the readings, jot down a sentence or two on each, then ponder them for a time. The questions at the top of the page are always: Lord, what do you want your people to ponder? How do these readings relate to everyday life? This week, the reflection-list looked like this:

Elijah: hears the Lord not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a whisper
Psalmist: kindness + truth, justice + peace
Paul: anguish over his fellow Jews who do not follow Jesus
Jesus: prays, storm arises, Jesus and Peter walk on water

Here’s the first thing: Elijah is in fear for his life when the Lord calls for him to listen. It’s not in the reading, but I know the story and so do you. The prophet Elijah is at war with Queen Jezebel’s (King Ahab) court prophets. They do the whole which-God-will-set-the-wet-wood-on-fire routine and The Lord shows up big time while the gods of Ba’al do not. So, Elijah has the people round up the disgraced prophets, hauls them down to the Wadi Kishon river, and slaughters them all. Which makes Queen Jezebel utterly furious, so she then seeks to kill Elijah. Whew.

Fearing for his life, he runs – and eventually seeks refuge in a cave on Mount Horeb (aka, Sinai), and that’s where our first reading picks up, as the Lord whispers to Elijah’s heart, mind, and soul: Have no fear. Trust in me. I have a mission for you.

Here’s the second thing: Paul is a spot-of-emotional-distress over the resistance of most Jews to follow Jesus. We know most of his fellow colleagues in the Sanhedren abuse and berate him, and often run him out of town. You know who also never shows up in any of his letters or Luke’s recitation of Paul’s journeys (Acts)? Paul’s parents. Unlike Our Lady who followed her son to the cross, no account indicates Paul’s mother or father followed him in conversion. [On the return trip from WY, I listened to a “Paul-challenge” – seven sessions on Paul’s life and what we can learn from him. Most excellent.] Paul excelled in drama and heartache. Every morning he must have lamented the hardness of his Jewish friends’ hearts against Jesus and wondered what physical abuse he would encounter today. But every morning he also must have heard the Lord in his heart: Have no fear. Trust in me. I have mission for you.

Here’s the third thing: Like Elijah, our boys-in-the-boat (aka, disciples) are under some duress. In this turn-of-events it isn’t a person they fear, it’s being alone on a small boat in a sudden storm. And like Elijah, our Lord speaks to their heart, mind, and souls: Have no fear. Trust in me. I have a mission for you.

Here’s the last thing you need to know… the thing that you should ponder and relate to your everyday life: The Lord speaks to you in the ways you need to hear. Whether it’s in the silence (Elijah), the vocal drama of social and familial tensions (Paul), or the middle of a raging storm (Peter), the Lord Jesus is in the middle of it all saying, “Have no fear. Trust in me. I have a mission for you.”

The question is: Are we listening? #beattentive