Some Things To Deeply Ponder About

So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.”
And behold, the Lord was passing by!
And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains
and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord;
but the Lord was not in the wind.
And after the wind an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 
After the earthquake a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire;
and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle
and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.
And behold, a voice came to him and said,
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

I am still trying to digest and make sense out of the results of the elections recently held in our country. And one of the nagging questions in my mind is how could have I totally misread the sentiments and desires of our people. Most of the people in my circles felt the same way I do. How could we have totally misread the situation?

A deeper bugging question is how could even the church have misread the signs of the times? Many priests and bishops were very clear in telling people how to vote and giving guidelines in their choice of candidates. People were talking of the Catholic vote which was estimated to be in the millions, enough to elect any candidate for national office if delivered. It totally fizzled out. The flock did not listen to their shepherds. Maybe, there was cheating. Maybe, there was a manipulation of the voting machines or the transmittal of the voting results. But the more bothersome possibility and question is whether the Church leadership had been a total disconnect between the flock and the shepherds.

Maybe the followers were not listening to the the leaders. But the bigger maybe is that maybe the leaders have never been listening to their followers but have instead only been telling them what to do. And that can be the source of the disconnect. Is the Church leadership listening to the flock? I believe it does or at least it tries to. But why the disconnect? Maybe they have been listening to the wrong voices. Or looking in the wrong places. Or reading the wrong signs.

I also need to ponder deeply who am I really listening to? Where do I look for God’s will for me? What signs do I pay attention to? Do I listen to or even notice that little voice being the thunder and over the earthquake? I may be totally missing God’s message for me.