After the storm?

God 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. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 1 Kings 19:11-13
Listen, all of you, for the Lord is always passing by, hanging around, wanting us to hear. Out nation is full of noise. Remember how, yesterday in the Gospel, Jesus said to ignore all those voices which claimed to have definitive answers to the Disciples question about the end times - He is also speaking about all that noise which is going on around us.
Now, don't hear me wrong. We cannot remain in silence in the face of oppression and inhumanity - but we can start there. Elijah did not get to stay on his mountain - he was sent to finish the work which he had been given to do. These moments of retreat and silence allowed him to listen to the answer, from God, to the question - what are you doing here Elijah.
It can be hard, over all the pressure groups and media interests, and even our own internal dialogues, not be caught up in yet another wave of anger and fear. Vilifying the "other" is becoming so normalized in many circles that we no longer even see it as unreasonable. Truth has become relative to stance and there are many deceivers in this age. The god we find in this chaos might feel comfortable, might look like us and sound like us but will become unreliable with the ebb and flow of national life.
Take time to breath. Take time to fact check. Take time to try to understand, to listen, to talk with and not about. These are activities where the voice of self must be silenced. Where the chaos of emotion must be quelled. These are activities of the Holy Spirit in the soul. As we pass from the earthquake, wind and fire of our current national report, we may enter the silence of God's answer. What are you doing here?