Is the relationship still alive

The Texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today bring us close to experience of doubt and anguish. These are times when we wonder if the relationship we know with the Divine is still in place. Elijah is lead to the holy mountain where he has his understanding of his relationship to God renewed. Our eyes, ears and nose are too often overlooked as the means by which the Presence can be affirmed. Dawn, children’s faces, dogs playing, parents teaching are the stuff of reconnection. Paul like many who are close to friends and family struggles with why they have not come understand the intimate relationship with the Divine available to them even though they have had instruction, education and example presented to them. The ancient rabbis would ask if the true lover of God and people would offer God to exchange their place in the eternal with ones who they love. Paul expresses this desire in the letter to the Romans. His anguish over the welfare of Israel is the experience of many with respect to their own loved ones. Peter is impetuous. His love of Jesus is strong and his intentions are excellent. The trust he needs, like all who are challenged in life, is not quite there as he momentarily sinks into the ocean of life’s storms. He is pulled back to the security of his relationship with Jesus wherein he can continue to develop the faith to move mountains and be the Rock.