The passages that keeps on giving

Sometimes--far less often, probably, than is ideal--God speaks to us in a way that sticks with a person long after the moment has passed. There is a moment in 1st Kings, when Elijah goes to the mountaintop, which I call once again to your attention:

"Then He said, 'Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.' And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

"So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'"

Compare that with this passage from the Screwtape Letters:

“Music and silence -- how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell…no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise -- Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless and virile. Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples and impossible desires. We will make that whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end."

Is there time in your life when the noise is quietened and the still small voice can speak to you? There is not nearly enough in mine…