March 15, 2010

A Still Small Voice

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke 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. 1 Kings 19:11-12

After Christmas I spent 6 packed days in NYC with my younger daughter, Leah, who is still in school there. We had a truly wonderful time of museums, shows, opera, parks, food, very cold weather, packed subways and, of course, crowds. The first day we were there we decided about 5 p.m. to go to Rockefeller Center to hang out. Well, the crowds were crushing not in small part because the Center has been cordoned off because of a suspicious package that someone had left. (The package turned out to be someone’s lunch). But the noise and bustle was overwhelming even for seasoned New Yorkers. NYC is a busy place all the time for sure but what we experienced was definitely a notch above the usual.

The next day we met GPUMC church member, Jack Aranda, at Christ UMC near Bloomingdale's where he attends church now he is a New Yorker. The church was spectacular, the message was inspirational and the coffee hour was very friendly – just like Methodists! I can see why Jack goes there. He confided in me that as much as he loves the city, he needs a church family to bring him to reality. He said that sometimes during a weekday he will slip into a nearby church, any church, to be alone and to center himself. Given what most people know about NYC, there is certainly a need for that.

But in many ways each of our lives are not all that different from that of a New Yorker and we all need to find a place to clear our minds, calm our emotions , pray and listen to God’s directions for our lives. Of course, none of this is new for most of you. The hymnal is full of hymns that reminds us to do the same thing such as Take Time to Be Holy, Be Still My Soul, and Sweet Hour of Prayer. So that the end result is that He can raise you up on Eagles Wings!

Vivian Anderson