1 Kings 9:11-12: A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (Elijah’s encounter with God)

I don’t know how you entertain yourself on a long airplane flight. There certainly are a number of options. You can try to sleep unless you find it impossible to do so, as I do, crammed into such a claustrophobic space. So, since I couldn’t sleep on the last flight we were on which lasted nine hours, I read, worked crossword puzzles, stared into space, and watched movies—three of them—and that helped. The film that made the biggest impression on me was Post, which was about the struggle within the Post whether or not to publish the Pentagon papers and risk imprisonment for Katherine Graham, owner of the paper and Ben Bradley, the executive editor.
Of course, the paper did publish the documents, and once that decision was made in the film, there was a telling scene near the end, Down in the basement of Post building where the presses are, the head of the printing department thumbs a green button, and huge machines begin printing that edition. The next scene is the office of Howard Simons, managing editor of the paper. As the presses start up, rather than hear them since he is a number of floors up, he looks at a glass with pens and pencils in it as it begins vibrating. It is then that he knows that the decision has been made and the paper is being printed. What he notices is a small sign of an important decision.
I believe that the signs of the presence of God are like this—not loud and thunderous, as Isaiah found out—but rather small and quiet, so that we have to be paying attention to know they’re there and to understand what they mean. I pray that we might be listening and watching for the small signs of God’s presence, and that we follow those signs wherever they may lead. May we listen for the still, small voice and watch for the jar of pens and pencils vibrating on our desks. Amen.

1 John 3:1: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

I don’t know if you remember that I wrote about the general anonymity of the gym I go to, and how pleased I was when someone greeted me.
Well, it happened again, and I was somewhat surprised at what a hip-looking young man said to me. I was coming out of the locker room when he smiled and said, “What’s up, Pops?” I don’t remember what I said because I was first of all surprised by the greeting and secondly taken somewhat aback by being called “Pops.” I don’t think I look that old, and the word “Pops” sounds like something from a bad ‘70’s sitcom.
But as I thought more about it, I realized that most of us of a certain age feel younger than we are, and maybe we assume we look the same way. The greeting reminded me that I am as old as it says on my driver’s license, and I’m all right with that. I’m also all right with the greeting. There was a measure of recognition and even respect in what the young fellow said, and I’ll take that any day.
The point of all this is that God wants us to recognize God for who God is. And we’re called on to address the Father with terms of respect and affection. Jesus said to address God as “Abba,” which means “Daddy.” You can’t get much more respectful and affectionate than that. Praise God for being approachable, for wanting God’s children to come and be a part of his Kingdom, and praise God for the love that called God to offer his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice. Amen.