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1 Kings (3 Kings in the LXX)

19:3-13 [the text in italics]

Elijah was afraid and ran for his

life. When he came to Beersheba in

Judah, he left his servant there,

while he himself went a day's jour-

ney into the desert.When afraid, no matter the reason,

and running for your life, you can-

not find help in others and even inyour earthly self. Leave down your

servant, this corrupted body, and

allow your soul/inner self fly to-

wards the Rock. Leave the servant

aside and fly to the desert for one

day. [a days journey = the dis-

tance one could cover by walking

constantly during a day; I chose to

usefor one day having the impres-

sion of being suggested here a per-

sonal experience of the only not

first day of creation.]

The desert, where there is no place

to hiding and no possibility of dis-

guise, where you could clearly see

yourself, alone, in front of God.

And for just one day, under-

standing that there is none

other (cf. Genesis 1:5, where

day one is, not the first)

He came to a broom tree, sat

down under it and prayedthat he might die. "I have

had enough, Lord," he said.

"Take my life; I am no better

than my ancestors." Then he

lay down under the tree and

fell asleep.The Tree... So present from

the beginning to the end of

the Scripture (Genesis 2:8-

14; Revelation 22:1-6)... In

Buddhas vision tooThe Tree is the symbol of the

revelation, with its shadow

cast on you, like a darkened

refraction of the enlightening

truth from above... There, under

the Tree, is the best place in the

world to express your fears, to shed

your tears... There you could

asleep/anesthetize your senses and

your mind, preparing yourself,

waiting for the answer (Genesis

2:21-25)...

Is it not intriguing, how Elijah did

not want to eat from the Tree? He

was strong. He knew the truth wasbeyond the Tree itself. The Tree

represented a symbol, the epiph-

any, incarnation of another real-

ity

All at once an angel touched him

and said, "Get up and eat." He

looked around, and there by his

head was a cake of bread baked

over hot coals, and a jar of water.

He ate and drank and then lay

down again.If you do not eat from below, food

from above will be served to you.

Therefore do not worry, and con-

centrate on your quest.

Why Elijah fell asleep again? For

an angel cannot be the answer. It

(no he, no she) just represents the

presentiment of the answer

The angel of the Lord came back a

second time and touched him and

said, "Get up and eat, for the jour-

ney is too much for you." So he got

up and ate and drank. Strength-

ened by that food, he travelled

forty days and forty nights until hereached Horeb, the mountain of

God.And Elijah was right. The angel

cannot bring an answer, although it

is to expect from it (no he, no she)

to tell you where to go for an an-

swer.

After so frugal meal, and there is

no need for more actually

(Matthew 4:4), he proceeded for

his journey.We are invited to learn from here

that there is no real journey with-

out preparation: leave your servant

down, go into the desert for one

day, sleep under a tree, do not

worship the angels, and eat.

Only after all this you are

ready to proceed for the tough-

est part of your experience

There he went into a cave and

spent the night.The cave is the symbol of pre-

paring the rebirth (John 3:3-7).

In the cave there is always

night the inner face of the

day He entered voluntarily

his inner darkness (Genesis

1:2), renouncing his previous

knowledge and virtue. Becom-

ing a foetus in the womb of his

mother a foetus may claim

neither knowledge nor virtue.Elijah is the symbol of the

page 6

Reading the Bible:

Elijah on the Mountain of Godby Revd Dr Doru Costache

Parochial Life | july - august 2006 |

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8/2/2019 Elijah on the Mountain of God

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Parochial Life | july - august 2006 |

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editor:Rev. Doru Costache, PhD

layout design:Ion Nedelcu

address:64 Linthorn Ave,Croydon Park,

NSW 2133.

phone: (02) 9642 02 60

www.geocities.com/sfmaria_sydney

conscious. The cave/womb could

be the unconscious. And to some

extent he was prepared for this

adventure of conscious remaking

(1 Kings 18:42). The cave, the

womb, rebirth

And the word of the Lord came to

him: "What are you doing here,

Elijah?"By entering the darkness, by only

renouncing vanity you could hope

hearing the inaudible.

The Merciful One came again to

Adam, asking the most basic ques-

tion of all: are you aware of what

you seek and are? (Genesis 3:9)

He replied, "I have been very zeal-

ous for the Lord God Almighty.

The Israelites have rejected your

covenant, broken down your al-

tars, and put your prophets to

death with the sword. I am the

only one left, and now they are

trying to kill me too."

Always like Adam (Genesis 3:10),

Elijah was not yet fully aware (see

also the expression of his distress:I have had enough). His answer

was not responding the fundamen-

tal question uttered by God instead

of him. Recalling St Silouan, even

the saints can be wrong. Thus you

should not despair when your an-

swers will be inappropriate

The Lord said, "Go out and stand

on the mountain in the presence of

the Lord, for the Lord is about to

pass by."

You willingly entered the cave

and the darkness, but there is no

knowledge/answer in your own

humility. You accomplished your

task, becoming humble and forget-

ting about your vain knowledge.

You are now ready to receive the

wisdom from above: God is nei-

ther knowledge nor knowledge-

able. God is presence, life, alive,

somebody to be partaken

Then a great and powerful wind

tore the mountains apart and shat-

tered the rocks before the Lord,

but the Lord was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earth-

quake, 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. Powerful wind,

earthquake, fire. All three are vio-

lent, and you know what they

are... They represent the chaos you

assumed personally when you

chose to not hurt the others while

working on yourself. But God is

not to be found during the violent

stages of your de-construction. He

will be there, at the end of your

painful journey, where/when you

will struggle not anymore, where/when you will serenely sit under a

Tree, waiting for the revelation.

Where/when you will cease to

want anything more, understand-

ing that what it is expected from

you to be grateful for what already

is. It (no he, no she) will come,

caressing you gently, like the

whisper of a soft wind

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his

cloak over his face and went out

and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, "What

are you doing here, Elijah?"

He knew now. He knew he was

wrong, running for his life.

He answered in a humble silent

way

[see also this http://revdcostache.

livejournal.com/32528.html]

Reading... page 3 On Souls and

Various Ways

of LivingRevd Doru Costache

According to Palamas, although I

do not remember the place, the

radical difference between human

(reasoning/conscious) soul and

the animal soul consists in the

quality of the former to be more

than a function.

The animal soul animates flesh;

and there is no other reason to be

outside this function

The personal/human soul ani-

mates the flesh, but it also has a

life of its own, a raison dtre

which is not a mere function

A human soul, as principle of per-

sonhood, implies to be aware of

the dignity and call of the self,

besides the function of taking care

of the others

Human persons are not like thoseflies whose main reason to be is

to give birth, provide, and die af-

ter their offspring enters the same

pointless circle

At least, if choosing to live for

others, it is humane to grow per-

sonally as a result of such a

choice