“Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows” (Lk 12:6-7).
Some forty-five plus years ago I was in high school and either in my junior or senior sociology or psychology class, my teacher mentioned that if we thought Stephen King told amazing tales, we ought to definitely read the Bible. He keyed in especially on the imagery expressed in the Book of Revelation. My teacher’s comment piqued my interest because I enjoyed reading Stephen King, though I had not spent any time reading the Bible.
My teacher’s words stayed with me beyond that class period. A few weeks or months later I remember going to Waldens, a bookstore, at the Enfield Mall in the next town over from where I grew up in East Windsor, Connecticut. I purchased a King James Bible. I don’t remember reading it right away, but shortly sometime after. The occasion was my being at a party with friends, one of the few I attended during high school. I don’t remember anything about the party or why I left, but when I arrived home, I remember going up to my room and for some reason grasping my new Bible. I then opened it at random and began reading. The verse above along with the verses to follow such as, “Do not worry about your life” (Luke 12:22) is what I read. It was the first time that I can remember experiencing God speaking to me.
It was not a booming voice emanating from the burning bush that was directed to Moses, the room didn’t shake, nor did the lights flicker. Yet, in that quiet and still moment, I heard in my mind, “You will not ever win the lottery, but like the sparrows, I will take care of you. I will always give you the ability and means to work.” God has proven true to his word. I have not won the Mega Millions, Lotto, or the Power Ball here in Florida. It is also true that you can’t win if you don’t play and I haven’t.
I have no desire to because God has provided me with the opportunity to have regular, gainful employment and even though experiencing some tight financial times through the years, God has provided beyond work in those times of need, through the kindness of friends, families, as well as some amazing assistance outside of the norm. When I took a leave of absence to spend with JoAnn that time with JoAnn and our kids we had no income, and the generosity of those from our parish at St. Peter as well as our family from Cardinal Newman HS took collections and helped us.
Does God still speak to us as he spoke to the people in the Bible? Absolutely! God speaks to us directly, through his written word in our personal reading, and in our time of communal worship through homilies. He also speaks to us through the sacraments, music, art, movies, through others, through our serving each other, through his creation, and a myriad of other infinite possibilities.
The question is not so much, does God still speak to us? The question is why don’t we hear him? One way is to ask God to help us to recognize his voice. So we can be like the sheep that come to learn the shepherd’s voice. Another way is to stop and be still for set periods of time each day. Doing so gives us the opportunity for reflection, to ask God to reveal times in the past where he has spoken and we were not aware. When we examine and reflect on our day, with God’s help, we can look back and see where God has been with us and reached out to us.
Sometimes, as happened to me for the first time, it is acknowledging when God is speaking directly to us instead of dismissing an experience outright. I could have shrugged off the encounter with God I had that night so many years ago as some bad pizza at the party. Instead, I trusted that what I heard was the encouragement of God and he has shown that word to be true time and again.
Since that wonderful and grace filled moment, consistent time each day to pray and staying long enough to listen has been a big help for continuing the conversation! Some reasons we may not hear God is because we feel we are too busy to pray, and if we do pray, we are doing or talking, not listening, and not allowing God to do. God’s silence is also a profound answer. One of God’s language is silence. Just like learning any new language we only become fluent the more we immerse ourselves in the language. Are we willing to be open and believe that God speaks to us? Are we willing to spend time daily in silence and learn God’s language?
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta learned from her own experience that: “In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”
God knows us better than we know ourselves and loves us more than we can ever imagine. We can trust God and believe that any time spent with him will be to our benefit. Our Loving God and Father cares for and provides for us as he does the sparrows. Are we willing to answer his invitation to spend time with him and to listen for his word or his silence? God is not telling us to get up and do something. He is inviting us to be still and let him do something in and through us!
Photo: St. Mother Teresa at prayer in Kolkata, 1995, taken by Raghu Rai.
