The New Wine Press vol 25 no 4 December 2016 | Page 4

Editor’s Notes

The Whisper of God
by Fr. Richard Bayuk, c.pp.s., Publications Editor

In the December 2011 New Wine Press, Companion Kathy Schroeder wrote
about an experience she had at a Confirmation retreat, where the participants
reflected on the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. One of the students
was blindfolded and instructed to walk to the other side of the room using only
the directions being given by the others. What the student didn’t know was that
all of the directions would be shouted, except for one person who would walk
alongside and whisper. As you might expect, the student heard only the shouting and had a difficult time responding to the conflicting advice—and never did
hear the whisper of the “Holy Spirit,” giving complete and accurate directions.
These are “loud” days in our country as Christmas approaches, and one may
wonder where the “whisper of God” might be heard. Consider what the late
and great humorist, Erma Bombeck, wrote about an experience she had during
Sunday Mass.
I was intent on a small child who was turning around and smiling at everyone.
He wasn’t gurgling, spitting, humming, kicking, tearing the hymnals or rummaging
through his mother’s handbag. He was just smiling.
Finally his mother jerked him about and in a stage whisper that could be heard
in a little theater off Broadway said: “Stop that grinning! You’re in church!” With
that, she gave him a belt and, as the tears rolled down his cheek, she added, “That’s
better,” and returned to her prayers.
We sing, make a joyful noise unto the Lord, while our faces reflect the sadness of
one who has just buried a rich aunt who left everything to her pregnant hamster.
Suddenly I was angry. It occurred to me the entire world is in tears, and if you’re
not, then you better get with it. I wanted to grab this child with my tear-stained
face close to me and tell him about my God, the happy God, the smiling God, the
God who had to have a sense of humor to have created the likes of us.
I wanted to tell him that our God is an understanding God, who understands
little children who turn around and smile in church, and even curious little children who rummage through their mother’s handbags. I wanted to tell that little
child that I too have taken a few lumps for daring to smile in an otherwise solemn
religious setting.
What a fool, I thought, this woman sitting next to the only sign of hope—the
only miracle—left in our civilization. If that child couldn’t smile in church, where
was there left to go?
Maybe the whisper can be heard in the joy of children. A joy that adults don’t
always share; a joy that is sometimes snuffed out; a joy that is sadly absent for
many of the little ones today. Kathy put it well in her concluding words: “As we
go through this holy season with all its shouting, may we be open to hear the
whisper of God in our lives. May we hear the whisper of the hungry and lonely.
May we hear the whisper of Peace.” W
2 • The New Wine Press • December 2016