Brace for Impact

A Reflection on the First Reading for November 7th, 2021:
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

1 Kings
17.10-16

Elijah, the Prophet, set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: ‘The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.’”

She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
​

Somewhere in the crazy story that is my life, I was taught the important and valuable lesson of “checking in”. That is, finding out where people are at by taking the time to observe or directly ask. Before I give a workshop, start a presentation, when I walk in the office, meet friends for coffee, or whatever scenario I go into, I try to read the room. Are the people happy or sad? Is there tension in the room? Are people truly present with me or mentally checked out? Knowing where people are allows me to find my place in their story as we interact in that moment in time. At the same time, they become a part of my story. Our encounters with one another leave an impact. 


Have you ever had a moment when you felt truly heard? I hope so. It’s one of the best feelings in the world! It reminds you that you matter. You had an impact! I work with priests and bishops — yes, it is a definite challenge some days. However, it is also a great privilege. When they repeat something I’ve said to them to someone else or use something they’ve heard me say in a homily (It’s happened!), my first reaction is surprise but then I smile and think: they heard me!


Elijah heard the widow. He makes requests of her but acknowledges where the woman is at: “… do as you have said”. He doesn’t placate or tell her everything will be fine. Nor does he offer her sympathy. He acknowledges her state and at the same time gives her hope. He gives her his hope; the hope he knows comes from the Lord. He introduces her to “his” God and invites her to feel God’s impact on her life. The interaction allowed for the space for God to come in and do something — through Elijah but also through the widow. 


While I recognize my effect on the lives of others, I can often take for granted the effect God wants to have on me and in turn on those around me. That’s when God uses others to surprise me; to remind me that when I am so caught up in my own reality, like the widow, and can’t see beyond my own situation that indeed my story impacts others just as their stories have an effect on mine. 


In the realities of our world, global pandemic and everything else, it’s easy for me to wonder: Will I have an impact? As a follower of Christ, I need to believe that I do. Why? God calls me to have an impact on those around me and acknowledge that I too am affected in those interactions. God is working through those interactions, in that space, to provide us with all we need — freely and abundantly in ways we can’t even imagine. We need to be open to, and admittedly sometimes, brace for that impact. 




Aurea Sadi

---