Inspired by Bishop Rob Wright’s weekly practice of writing a 150-word reflection on the upcoming Sunday’s lectionary readings, I’m going to try to write a reflection on the readings each week in 250 words or less…
Listen to the Silence of the Mountain
Pentecost 11 – Year A – Proper 14 (Track 2) – August 9, 2026
1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
The church recently celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, an event in which Jesus appears transfigured in dazzling light on the top of a mountain. The disciples who witness the Transfiguration hear a voice saying, “This is my Beloved Son. Listen to him.” The ancient tradition of listening to God on a mountain top is embodied in the two prophets who flank Jesus: Moses, who received the Torah on Mount Sinai; and Elijah, who heard God speak to him not in a mighty wind, not in an earthquake, not in a fire, but in “a still small voice.”
The Scripture readings invite us to listen to this same still small voice in the mountains. They invite us to listen, like the psalmist, who says, “I will listen to what the LORD God is saying, for he is speaking peace…to those who turn their hearts to him” (Psalm 85:8). They invite us to listen with our heart; because, as St. Paul says, “the Word is…in your heart.” The invitation is echoed again in the Gospel in which Jesus “went up the mountain by himself to pray.” At the entrance to the St. Francis of the Mountains chapel in Fallen Leaf Lake CA, the following words are posted:
Twas to the mountain Jesus went to pray,
And on the mountain even to this day
We find Him still and lay our cares away.
The “still small voice” speaks in the mountains today for those who listen, with their heart, to the silence.
