and there’s no actually need for more (Matthew 4:4), he proceeded for his journey. There’s no true journey without proper preparation: leave your servant behind(assume solitude), go into the desert for one day (look into your heart), rest undera tree (find the gate), don’t absolutise the angels (focus on the quest, don’t bedisturbed by images or ideas), and eat (assimilate your findings, know who youare). Only after you may move towards the most difficult part of your experience.
There he went into a cave and lodged there.
The cave, like a womb, represents the matrix of one’s rebirth (cf. John 3:3-7). Inthe cave there’s always night, that inner face of a day, another powerful symbolof the mystery of one’s regeneration. Elijah voluntarily returned into his innerdarkness (cf. Genesis 1:2), abandoning any previous knowledge and virtue, andbecoming a foetus anew (a foetus may claim neither knowledge nor virtue) in thewomb of his mother, the heart. For Elijah is the conscious side whereas the caveof his heart, the mother, is his subconscious (like in Annick de Souzenelle’shermeneutics). The cave, the womb… Reborn by becoming humble (see 3 Kings18:42), by acknowledging your ignorance, insecurities and weaknesses…
And the word of the Lord came to him: “Why are you here, Elijah?”
Only by renouncing your vanity you can hear the inaudible. The Merciful One willcome again to Adam, asking the most basic question of all: are you aware of whatyou seek? Do you know who you are? (see Genesis 3:9).
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israeliteshave forsaken you, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death withthe sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to take my life too.”
Always like Adam (cf. Genesis 3:10), Elijah was not yet fully aware of the meaningof his quest (see also the expression of his sorrow: I have had enough). His wasnot the proper answer to God’s fundamental question. Nothing surprising thoughsince, according to St Silouan the Athonite, even the saints can be wrong. Therefore, you should not despair when your own answers are inaccurate.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
You willingly entered the cave and the darkness, but there is noknowledge/answer in your own humility. You accomplished your task, becominghumble and putting behind all prejudice. Now you’re ready to receive the wisdomfrom above: God is neither knowledge nor knowable. God is presence, alive, life tobe partaken.
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocksbefore the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was anearthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came afire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper, and the Lord was there.
Powerful wind, earthquake, fire. All tree elements are violent, and you know whatthey are... They represent the stages of chaos and turmoil you consciouslyembraced when you began to work on your rebirth. But God is not to be foundduring the violent stages of your deconstruction. He will be there, at the end of your painful journey, where/when you will not struggle anymore, where/when –radically reconstructed – you will serenely and gratefully sit under the Tree. He willcome, the Comforter, gently caressing your heart, like the whisper of a soft wind.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood by the cave. Then a voice said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
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Dear Fr, I had the same impression when I finished writing :-)
Fr Doru, Thanks for the trip back to reality.