Classroom Implications
God in the gentle breeze

1 Kings 19

When Elijah reached Horeb, the mountain of God, he went into the cave and spent the night in it. Then he was told, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ Then the Lord himself went by. There came a mighty wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came 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 there came the sound of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Summary 1 Kings 19 blog

The idea of God in the gentle breeze is to notice God in the little things, quiet times, wafting through our lives. The idea of building the relationship with God not in the traumatic moments of our lives but in the quiet times of stillness. That winds and breezes originate somewhere, but always connected to other parts of the world. We have a noisy, fast moving, at times violent world and the sustaining element for us is the God in the stillness.

Classroom implications

Mobiles. These can be made by students. They can have images and texts. They could be complex or simple.
Find music that relates to stillness
Could meditation be a walking event outside where the breeze maybe noticed
Could there be an investigation into the nature of winds. That they come from somewhere and impact somewhere else. Building on the idea that we are all connected.
Creative writing in the use of the wind

Prayer implications

Music for prayer
Build a culture of meditation – there are many forms
Breathing
Reflection on a text
Sitting to music
https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://resource-macs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Meditation-Wellbeing-and-Catholic-Identity-Resource-Booklet.pdf&hl=en
Scripture passages
1 Kings 19 – gentle breeze
Acts 2 (Pentecost)
John 3:8 – wind blows where it will
Matthew 14 – But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Prayer walk
Pray as you Go app

Links to school life/public life

Link to indigenous sense of spirituality
Link to saints – particularly founding stories.
Confirmation
Bush fires
Impact of high winds on school accessibility.

The Text of the Blog

I love the idea of God being in the gentle breeze. It just resonates with me that God is there but not easily noticed. Recently, a discussion in a school explored the possibility of using mobiles hung in the classroom so that it is noticable that the littlest bit of breeze will be seen in the swinging mobiles. One really needs to turn on one’s eyes to become aware of the presence of God.

That’s a really beautiful idea! And I think would really remind people to look for God in the quieter times. It’s perhaps easier to turn to prayer in times of extremes, big changes, or disaster, but it’s good to be reminded to look to building that relationship in times of stillness.

In the book of Kings Elijah is presented as the new Moses. Like Moses before him Elijah watches from a cave as Yahweh passes by. Wind, earthquake, fire appear again (Exodus 19) but this time Yahweh is not present in them. It seems clear from scholars that the Elijah story represents a transition from the spectacular theophanies witnessed by early Israel to the quiet transmission of the divine word to prophets. (Harper’s Biblical Commentary)

How interesting!

This is a really interesting reading in that it turns some things on their heads-there is a language about God that recognises God in big, overwhelming events, and as someone who intervenes in human lives, particularly when humans fail. Some of that is used in the Old Testament and is about ‘fire and brimstone’. And yet this reading asks us to notice God in the breeze- such a beautiful image of something gentle, moving and wafting through our lives. In a world where so much of the noise and chatter is about ugliness, violence and behaviours that are profoundly disturbing, this reminder to notice God in the gentle breeze is potent.

I am thinking of winds. Where do they come from? Some come from the heat below and push up. Some from currents in the oceans. Some from mountains and tunnels. Winds originate somewhere. There is a connectedness between this part of the world and others.

From <https://therightdirt.com.au/where_god_is/#comment-19>