CHAOS AND CRISIS ARE GOOD FOR US
At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
There was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
Then there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
And then there was a tiny whispering sound.
When Elijah heard this,
he hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a
This passage makes it seem that Elijah, like us, lived a very ordinary everyday life and, on this particular day, he needed shelter, saw a cave and sheltered there. Then the story jumps from that to what may sound extraordinary to us, but which may have been an ordinary everyday occurrence for Elijah, “Then the LORD said to him, . . .” (He heard God speaking to him!)
YOUR READINESS TO HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO YOU
Elijah heard God speaking to him? How can this be? And can we expect to hear God speaking to us? Is it a natural thing, something God intends for each one of us? Can we tap into this? (In my previous post, I said that from the very beginning of a person’s life, (Yes, at the very beginning of your life and of my life.), and even now, God intended there to be a partnership between each of us and Him, but God left us free to choose to enter into this partnership or to refuse to join Him in it. Which option did you choose for yourself? Do you want to change that choice or deepen you commitment to it? If and when you are ready to do that, it is His grace that is being offered to you. I pray that you accept it.)
NURTURING OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD
There are three suggestions for growing this God-me partnership contained in the above Scripture passage. First, I need to believe that God is trying to communicate with me. Do I believe this? Second, I have to recognize that what is happening in and around me will, at times, be chaotic and that is okay. And third, I need to let myself be tuned in and ready to listen for God’s Word and that takes some training on my part.
For Elijah, the chaos was the “roar of the wind, the earthquake and the fire.” For us living today, what is it that causes that we look upon as a crisis, personal or otherwise, or that we think of as causing chaos? (Some examples: accidents, fires, health-related issues, family, financial problems, moral dilemmas.)
BELIEF THAT GOD HAS A REAL INTEREST IN US
Elijah believed in a God who is present to his creation. So, he trained his inner self to be attentive to the God who is present. He trusted that God was with him in the chaos, and when the chaos subsided, the first thing he did was listen to Him speaking without words, communicating with him, nonetheless. Can we train ourselves to do this? Try it. (For me, this works best when I am looking at something God created, such as the trees, flowers, birds, clouds.) 
In the Angel.com eighth episode of Third Season of the Chosen, we have a depiction of the Gospel story of the Disciples in the storm at sea (Mt 14:22-33). It holds a hint to the problem. Like the First Disciples in the boat in the storm, like Peter trying to walk on the water, we – when things are not going the way we expect or want – we panic. (Can you think of something that happened, now or in the past, when something caused panic to well up within you?)
CHAOS AND CRISIS ARE GOOD FOR US
Pope Francis was asked, during his visit to Lisbon for the 2023 World Youth Day, by two people representing a group of young adults, “How can we live in a world with crisis and chaos?” He responded, that a life without these is like drinking nothing but flavorless distilled water. That water tastes flat and bland, because it has been stripped of the substances that gave the water its full and true flavor. (View the video below.)
Flannery O’Connor authored short stories about people who unknowingly were living graceless lives and then finally saw the “true flavor” of the events in their lives in the midst of some kind of a personal storm or crisis. She says that these are times when God is pouring graces over us, but that we almost always miss seeing them. So, we miss God’s rescuing grace. Why? Possibly because we have not trained ourselves to recognize that the solution comes when we see God as being here and willing to be a partner as we go through the panic-causing situation which could bring us to something with a truer flavor. Instead, we feel alone. We stay in the panic; we try to find our own, unpartnered-with-God way out of the situation. We blame God or someone else for letting this happen or for making it happen.
CONVERSION THAT LEADS TO TRANSFORMATION
Instead, can we, at such times, teach and train ourselves to turn to God, believe in God and let God’s graces not flow over us but let them wash away our and each others failings and sins? Can we silently be there as Jesus was with the Father through the his earthly life’s storms. Let’s examine our reactions to the storms, chaos and crises. Let’s ask God to help us accept his willed partnering so that we can hear His whispers.
Sister Loretta
Watch this video of the second day of Pope Francis’ visit to Lisbon for the 2023 World Youth Day, he meets with members of the “Scholas Occurrentes” community at its Portuguese headquarters in Cascais, and answers the young adults’ questions on chaos and crisis.