Quiet and Still

One

The Still, Small Voice

In the first book of Kings, Elijah the prophet is fleeing from the wrath of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. He’s going to consult with God Himself, on His holy mountain and He waits for God to come.

Listen to what he experiences, “Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a still small voice. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” (I Kings 19:11-13).

We all expect God to come dramatically, to make an entrance. We expect it to be big and loud. But when it’s big and loud, often enough it isn’t God. Because when God comes, He comes quietly.

Two

Christ in the Stable

The prophecies about the Messiah led people to expect that when He came, the Lord’s Anointed One, the Universal King, it would be big and loud. The coming of a King, of the greatest king of all time, surely when He came, everyone would notice? But no. It was a quiet coming. Perhaps the most famous Christmas song is called “Silent Night.”

There was an emergency pregnancy, and a poor woman gave birth in what today would be the equivalent of someone else’s garage. Why would anyone notice? There was some interesting irregularities in the position of the stars, but stars don’t make noise, and who’s going to notice a small change in the night sky?

A bridge had been built between heaven and earth. But it had been constructed without a sound. The Creator of the Universe had come to visit Palestine. But He didn’t want a fuss. Because God tends to perform His greatest works quietly. 

Three

The Eucharist

Christ continues to come. God continues to send the universal mediator into the world, body/blood/soul/divinity. A priest takes bread and wine in his hands, and says the sacred words, and what happens? In itself, the summary of all God’s greatest works: The Incarnation is made present. Christ’s passion on His Cross is made present. The supreme gift of God to humanity and humanity to God is exchanged. In other words, when the priest says those words, the most important event in the world happens.

But what do we see happen? Nothing. We notice nothing. That shouldn’t surprise us. It fits with God’s style. When He comes, He comes quietly. That’s how He achieves His greatest works.

Four

The Work of Grace

The most discouraging aspect of the Christian life is that we don’t notice spiritual progress. We go to confession over and over, and we don’t see our sins slipping away. We go to mass over and over, we keep praying the rosary, we keep trying to maintain a habit of daily meditation, and we don’t feel any closer to the Lord. Where is God? Where is Jesus?

He’s there. He’s coming. He’s working. He’s bringing you on the path to holiness in His own way. Yeah, you can’t see it, you can’t feel it. But that shouldn’t surprise you. Because that fits with God’s style. When He comes, He comes quietly. That’s how He achieves His greatest works.

Five

The Inscrutable Workings of Providence

A final implication of God’s quiet style is that we have to acknowledge that we often won’t be able to recognize the key moments of God’s intervention. No one noticed when Christ was born, everyone was sleeping when Christ rose from the tomb. And yet those were the two most important events in the history of the universe. Because God works quietly, it means His providential guidance isn’t easy to read.

So be careful about trying to read “the signs of the times” too confidently. Because God’s most important victories are often too quiet to notice. In fact, His most important victories take place in the soul. Don’t make too much of big obvious cultural victories or big obvious cultural setbacks. God knows where the important changes, the important victories are happening. And no matter what people notice, we can be confident that He is working quietly to achieve the inevitable, magnificent fulfillment of His plan.