"a small voice..."

"a thousand prayers,
a million words,
but one Voice
was heard..."

Almost 20 years ago the video for Billy Gilman's "One Voice," was released. I remembered it this morning in light of this week's Bible lesson.

What has stood out to me -- from all the wonderful ideas and stories -- is one word: small. Specifically as it is used in this familiar Scripture from I Kings:

"And =, behold, the Lord passed by,
and a great and strong wind rent the mountains,
and brake in oyes 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..."

I've often thought about the stillness of the Voice of God. The quiet invariability. The nevertheless-ness of its comforting presence. The constancy of its calm assurance.

But I had never really thought of what it meant, that the Voice was small. I went to Strong's Hebrew Lexicon and found this definition of the word "small" as it relates to this specific passage:

"lean, fine,
nothing extraneous
simple, gaunt..."

I held my breath. Isn't this what I have been learning for the past decade -- and especially in the last year? The simplicity of the Christ message. The piercing clarity of Truth. Nothing extraneous. No exaggeration. The smallness of "the still small Voice..."

I immediately thought back to every healing I have experienced and witnessed of late. What did they have in common: the lean-ness of the Truth. The simple shape of The Word -- free of words. The raw childlike wonder of honest hearts.

This Truth is unencumbered by "more than enough," - because in its simple Allness, it is always infinite. Or as Mary Baker Eddy assures us:

"The Scriptures plainly declare
the allness and oneness of God
to be the premises of Truth..."

"God is one.
The allness of Deity
is His oneness."

So, I went back to sifting through all the mental chatter -- the human mind's thinking about God -- to what I know at the very root-of-the-root of my being. And it was that very word. Being.  I AM.

I started there. Not just in listening for spiritual guidance about my own experience, but in relation to those who had asked for treatment -- as well as, those whom my thoughts and prayers natural rested upon within the all-inclusiveness of spiritual community and care.

"I am." This statement of spiritual fact suffuses every molecule of conscious being.  It is constantly repeating itself to each of us.  This Truth is affirming the presence of God. I AM (the only name God give Himself in Scripture) over and over again throughout the day - and night.

In the morning, I wake to, "I am..." And as I close my eyes, I rest my day upon, "I am..." I trust that what follows that opening coda of Truth, is also spoken by the same Voice. I am whole. I am loved. I am loving. I am honest. I am able to "listen for Thy Voice, lest my footsteps stray..."

It is echoing still in the hearts and minds of individual and collective consciousness.

And one Voice was heard...


offered with Love,

Cate

"lean in toward the light..."

"the shadows of the world will say,
there's no hope -- why try anyway.
every kindness large or slight,
shifts the balance towards the light..."

I am living in a Carrie Newcomer-scored world of hope these days. Her recording of "Lean in Toward the Light." is my get-up-and-go song.

This afternoon my husband and his friend let me crash the tail end of their weekly deep dive into all manner of wonderful subjects. One of the things they were discussing was the concept of sacred truths. I was enthralled.  I could have listened for hours.  As I drove home, I thought about my own sacred cache of truths -- those things that I know to be true in my deepest part of my heart.

Over the last few years, I've done a lot of spiritual housecleaning. I've begun to differentiate between ideas that I find fascinating, stirring, and inspiring -- ideas that I like to ponder and explore, and those that I absolutely know -- and trust -- with every cell of my being. It's a small cadre of spiritual laws, but I lean into them without reservation.

One of those laws is something I think of as "spiritual tropism." As a teacher I remember learning about tropism in order to substitute for a fifth grade plant biology class. I was fascinated.  How did I miss this lesson when I was in middle school?  Webster defines tropism as: "the involuntary turning of all or part of an organism in a particular direction in response to an external stimulus." Think of a leaf turning towards the light, or roots reaching towards water.

This is not a choice made by the plant -- it's leaves, or its root system. It is not something that the plant can resist. It just is. It is a law.

For me, spiritual tropism is the involuntary movement of humanity towards God, Love.  It is seen in an involuntary turning towards goodness, beauty, order, honesty, kindness -- any manifestation of God's presence. This gives me great hope. Because if there is anything that I am absolutely certain of, it is this law. It is a sacred Truth for me -- the irresistible law of Love calling us into alignment with Itself.

This has been especially important to me as a mom. If I were to allow myself to think about my children going out into a world full of moral uncertainty and random unkindness, I would be paralyzed with fear. But when I think of this irresistible law, I am filled with a mother tiger-like fierceness.  For me, affirming the self-enforcing nature of this law -- for every human being on earth -- is a sacred demand.

This was never more powerful for me than when our daughter went to live in post-apartheid South Africa. This was a country in transition. Our daughter was still a teenager. Reports of angry young men preying on young women were ubiquitous. But spiritual tropism was a law. I leaned into it with all my heart. Trusting that the inner qualities of honor, integrity, innocence, and purity were more compelling than anger or lust was a lifeline to my peace. It still is.

As a neighbor and global citizen, I know I must stay firm in my defense of man's inalienable right to be governed by this law.  I cannot afford the luxury of believing that this involuntary call to goodness is a human choice, rather than an ever-operative law.  No matter how much it may look like a plant may have turned away from the light and twisted itself towards the dark, I know -- without a doubt -- that this is only an illusion.

I know that the plant is unable to turn away from the light. Because I understand phototropism as law, I never wonder if suddenly the sunflower will turn away from the light. It has no self-volition. I never worry about rogue flowers or trees.  I am confident in the power of light to draw every plant cell to itself. And because I understand the law of hydrotropism -- the roots of a plant will always seek out water -- I never wonder if the roots of a tree will suddenly start poking through the ground and reaching for the sky.

I feel the same way about each of us. We are impelled to grow in grace, to seek out good, to reach for love, to love honesty, to appreciate beauty, to trust truth.  I trust this law with all my heart.

It is one of my most treasured sacred truths. In its presence I feel secure. In its presence I rest.


offered with Love,

Kate