THE GENTLE BREEZE

By John Santosuosso

Then he was told, 'Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh. Then Yahweh himself went by. There came a mighty wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before Yahweh. But Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But Yahweh was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire came the sound of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

                 Jerusalem Bible, I Kings 19:11-13

Sometimes belief, or faith, is very difficult. It can be hard to believe in a presence you cannot see or hear. So often, we long for some sort of sign to restore our faith and direct us in what we should do. It was no different in the time of Jesus (see John 6:30). However, when Jesus gave people a sign frequently the response was to ask for another one. Have you ever known a friend or someone else who would take "polls" until they got a sufficient number of replies that they should do what they had always wanted to do in the first place? Perhaps we are tempted to do this because when we request a sign from God it seems to either to be totally nonexistent or at the very most not clear or reassuring. There is that old story, hopefully apocryphal rather than historic, of a small congregation that did not know what God's instructions were. They decided to open a Bible and at random select a verse. They did, and the verse they got was, "And Judas went and hanged himself." Puzzled they decided to try again. This time the verse was, "Go, thou, and do likewise."

Poor Elijah, his prophetic message rejected and his enemies seeking to kill him, must have wondered where was God. What was he to do? The answer did come, but not in the way he expected. It was not in the fire or earthquake, but in the near silence of a gentle breeze. We should not make the mistake of thinking that when the message comes it will always be a gentle one. Rather it may be just the opposite. However, it often may come in the silence of the breeze, so subtle we could miss it if not patient and expecting it.

Some years ago I was in Italy in the town of Assisi, the place associated with our beloved St. Francis. I was waiting for the Basilica to reopen after lunch, and while waiting decided to take a walk in a nearby neighborhood. I should have known better. This is not a wise thing to do when alone in a foreign country, and normally I would know better. For some reason this day my common sense took a vacation. As I walked about I noticed two things. Many of the streets were more like tunnels, and there was absolutely no one else around. It was just a bit eerie. As I went around a corner I saw a very elderly man, wearing a white shirt and an old pair of dress pants standing by the edge of the street. As I approached him, he held out a hand. He was a beggar. He had a speech impediment and could only utter sounds. Without thinking much about it, I gave him some money and went on my way. I soon began to wonder if maybe these empty streets were not the safest place to be, and I began my return. When I reached the place where the old man had been just a few minutes earlier he was gone. I did look around for him, but he was no where in sight. I eventually left those streets went into the now-open Basilica and pretty much forgot about my encounter.

Strangely enough, after returning home, one day I began thinking about that old man. Why would a beggar choose such an isolated spot when there were streets not too far away which would be more profitable? How had he managed to totally disappear in just a few minutes? There were things about his appearance that just seemed different than that of the usual street person you might encounter. I will never know. Possibly this was all just coincidence. Or could it have been one of those subtle encounters the Divine sends us when we least expect them and maybe are not even looking for them? Was the old man a quiet reminder that we who have been given much are expected to do much? Was he a heavenly "gentle breeze" there to revive a soul needing reviving? There was no fire, wind, or earthquake, just an old man in a white dress shirt, with a speech impediment, and his hand out. I will leave it to you to decide for yourself. Meanwhile never ignore the breeze or even the total silence.