The Christian holidays bring us busyness unlike any other in the year. It’s as if we know that we need to get on a train to a new destination in our relationship with God, and so we hurry to the station, but when we arrive, there are so many distractions, that we could even miss the train.

We know that the “still small voice” (1Kings 12: 11-12) is speaking to us, but if you let them, the much louder noises of the season are capable of drowning it out. Arriving at the station we find shops and attractions that can be irresistible unless we remember to expect that voice.

When Elijah heard that voice, it conveyed to him information that he could not have known before, as well as a role and a mission for himself in the unfolding history of Israel. Elijah received confirmation of his close relationship with God, and specific instructions for his ministry. He also received a sense of kinship with a holy God, that enabled him to persevere in fulfilling his calling. We all need the still small voice, but especially at holiday time. The still small voice engaged Elijah in a conversation. It was not a monologue, but a question and answer. The noise of the world, however, is insistent and pervasive.

Thanksgiving is full of chatter, often joyful, re-uniting chatter, but Thanksgiving also invites reflection. Once on the train to the holidays there is room for reflection, but the station is still distracting until we get on the the train. When the train doors close, and it starts to move, we must settle down and wait. The psalmist wrote, He says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm46:10)

The buying and selling is finished and events are planned. The priceless time of remembering and listening comes naturally on the train. This is God’s desire for Thanksgiving and for Christmas: time alone with each of us. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with wordless groans. (Romans 8:26)

We become like children when we finally enter the train, find our seat, and remember the One who called the very journey into being, the One behind and within the celebration and the holidays themselves.

Love in Him,

Prue