Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The gospel describes Jesus and John meeting at the Jordan and the voice of the proclaiming as Jesus rose up from the water, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." In his homily Father mentioned in passing the quote from Psalm 29 that the voice of the Lord "cracks the cedars." I was so intrigued, I came home and looked it up.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over the mighty waters.It reminded me of something that happened at our home in Alexandria. I was standing in the doorway one afternoon during a thunderstorm watching the rain and lightening through the glass. Thunderstorms intrigue me. I used to tell the kids they were God's fireworks.
The voice of the LORD is power; the voice of the LORD is splendor.
The voice of the LORD cracks the cedars; the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon....
Suddenly there was an incredible boom and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Obviously, we'd had a strike either on the house or close to it. Later when the storm passed I was outside and noticed that the bark on one side of our beautiful willow oak, the largest tree in the development, had been literally blown off by the "voice" of the lightening!
When Father mentioned that quote this morning I had an Aha! moment. God sometimes speaks in the small whispering sound, but he also speaks with power and authority in the voice that "splinters the cedars of Lebanon." Our beautiful oak tree was later turned into literal splinters because it had to be cut down and shredded. What a metaphor for the power of God. And what a reminder that we must stand before God in humility like the reed, not try to impress him with our pride and grandeur as the cedar.
After Mass this morning I stood before an impressive statue of St. Michael the Archangel with his sword raised and his foot on the neck of Satan. I imagine he could take down the mighty cedar with one whack of his angelic sword. Milton, in Paradise Lost, tells us when Lucifer said no to God the angel of light now a demon of hell, "Dropt from the zenith like a falling star." And that's the same fate he wants for mankind -- to have us plunge like falling star into the depths of hell, dead stars, burnt embers. What a tragedy when those made in the image of God, cooperate with the evil to put on the mask of evil. When the light of God goes out in a soul, how dark that soul becomes!
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