My new, second-favorite Bible verse

This blog is named after my favorite verse, Mark 9:24. Last night as I was reading through the genocide, backstabbing, lechery and mayhem in 1 Kings I discovered my now second-favorite verse(s), 1 Kings 19:11-13 (TNIV):

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."

Then 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. 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?"

That really started me thinking. What is God whispering to me? To you? Are we listening for it, or are we waiting for some big, grand revelation? When the whisper comes, will we be ready to pull our cloaks over our faces and walk to the mouth of our self-made cave to hear what He has to say to us? Will we be ready to answer His quiet question, "What are you doing here?"

That last question is enough to keep you up nights, you know?

I see dead people

Les and I stayed up last night and re-watched Grand Hotel. We really shouldn't have, since she works two 13 hour shifts on the weekends and I think she was regretting it this morning at 5:00 when the alarm went off. But it's a great movie, even if John Barrymore's character, Baron Felix von Geigern, dies in the end (something we both had forgotten - sigh).

We've gotten into the habit of watching old films over the past year or so. Lots of Bogart, with and without Bacall (we're both big Bogie fans). Sunset Boulevard. From Here to Eternity. The Apartment (long a fav of mine). Picnic (ditto). Various film noir classics. We'll be buying more.

Similarly, I posted just today a comment on Facebook, in a thread about two modern Christian pastors/authors/personalities:

But then, with VERY FEW exceptions, I've been making a point the last few years to only buy books on Christianity written by dead people. That way I don't have to worry about their "franchise," theology or finding out anything negative about them after the fact. C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, C.K. Barrett and R.E. Brown all read just as well as something written lately (actually, they read better) and I know they're not going to come out with a companion DVD series to sell to me, either.

I have always been something of an outsider, but as I get older I realize I am withdrawing more and more from contemporary society. We haven't had "TV," in terms of cable or even an antenna hooked up, for over a decade. I have stopped listening to and reading the news (again – my "news sabbaticals" tend to peak during election years). My reading and movie tastes are decidedly non-mainstream. And while I think I am actually fairly tuned in to some strains of current music, it tends to all be self-produced indie artists.

I don't think I'm special because of this – sometimes I wish I could talk about what's on TV, or sports, or whatnot. It would make social situations a little less awkward. No, what it really comes down to is realizing the old saw that, "The more things change, the more they remain the same." So much so that I no longer seek a lot of new stimulus. Old movies are fine. Their acting may seem a bit contrived, perhaps, but the characters are recognizable, their needs and desires are our needs and desires. There hasn't been a new plot created in what, 50? 500? 2,000? years. Times change. Technologies advance. Kingdoms come and go. Humans stay the same.

Somehow, I find comfort in that.