“Beauty is that which attracts your soul, And that which loves to give and not to receive.” When we speak of the Prophet Elijah I would like you to remember the wisdom of Kahlil Gibran who said “life is an island in an ocean of loneliness, an island whose rocks are hopes, whose trees are dreams, whose flowers are solitude, and whose brooks are thirst.” The Prophet Elijah’s life was an island separated from all other islands and regions. No matter how many are the ships that leave your shores for other climes, no matter how many are the fleets that touch your coast, you remain a solitary island, suffering the pangs of loneliness and yearning for happiness. You are unknown to your fellow men and far removed from their sympathy and understanding. The Carmelite Tradition of his dramatic confrontation with the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18:19- 40), and the subsequent end to the long drought after Elijah’s servant returned from the top of Carmel and reported seeing a small white cloud rising over the sea (1 Kgs 18:42-46). Many extra biblical traditions portray Elijah (and his successor Elisha) spending long periods on Mount Carmel, in solitude or guiding the otherwise obscure “guild of prophets” occasionally mentioned in the Elijah/Elisha cycle. Several patristic authors imaginatively portray Elijah as a kind of model for the Christian monk and even as the “founder” of monasticism and the eremitical life. During the flowering of Palestinian monasticism in the fourth to the seventh centuries, a number of Byzantine monastic settlements and laurae (loosely knit hermit communities) were established on Mount Carmel, no doubt attracted by its association with Elijah. In Elijah, Carmel sees itself as in a mirror. His eremitic and prophetic life expresses its own most intimate ideal. The human heart yearns for something, someone beyond its reach. Elijah’s life can be compared to the sea that never sleeps and in its vigil; there is consolation for a sleepless soul. Life without love is like a tree without blossoms and fruits and love without beauty is like flowers without scent and fruits without seeds…….life, love and beauty are three persons in one, who cannot be separated or changed. His eremitic and prophetic life expresses its own most intimate ideal. In studying the life of Elijah, Carmel is aware of a growing thirst for contemplation. Carmelite spirituality in every century needs to breathe the air of this high place if it is to live, and it needs a form of life sufficiently recollected to permit the soul to perceive the divine presence “in the sound of a gentle breeze”. (1 Kgs 19, 12). This issue of Lum Karmel will help you to know more about St. Elijah, the Man of God and it will inspire you to live in the real spirit of Carmel. It is dedicated to the patronage of St. Elijah and we, the members of the Editorial board, gratefully remember all those who have contributed their priceless articles. May St. Elijah bless all of them as well as our readers.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 09:59:37 +0000
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