ELIJAH CONCLUSION

The last story I want to tell you concerns Elijah’s death (this is 2 Kings 2:1-12). Elijah knows he is about to die, as does his disciple Elisha.  Elijah keeps trying to get Elisha to leave him alone, but Elisha keeps refusing.  They walk all the way to the Jordan river from where they started, apparently a distance of 45 miles in one day.   OK, so not too realistic for anyone, let alone a man about to die.  Elijah rolls up his mantle, strikes the river and it separates into two channels, just like the sea of reeds and the Exodus from Egypt, and Elijah and Elisha start across on dry land. They are negotiating Elijah’s blessing to Elisha when “a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and separated one from the other; and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” (2 Kings 2:11).

This form of death is really important for the later Jewish imagination.  The lack of a body and a burial stimulated the imagination of our ancestors who turn Elijah into a mythic figure who is able to travel between worlds and intercedes on behalf of those who call on him.  In this sense he is like Enoch (Genesis 5:24) who is also never buried and becomes the conduit to the divine for the Hekhalot mystics, one of the earliest strands of Jewish mysticism. 

So what does Elijah do that is characteristic of some indigenous practitioners and through which we can affirm the possibility of reclaiming our indigenous Hebrew heritage?  I’m not sure that we can reclaim how he performs miracles in the natural world such as multiplying the widow’s food or bringing down fire to burn his sacrifice on Mt. Carmel, or being fed by ravens.

However, there are three things I think we can take away that can serve as a model for us and that we can do.

o   He spends an enormous amount of time alone in the wilderness

o   He puts his head between his legs and goes into a trance in the more than human world.   

o   He practices heartfelt and simple prayer. 

I leave you with these questions from our stories about Elijah.

          How can you become more intimate with the more than human world?

          How trusting are you that the divine will take care of you? How can you develop that trust?

          How much alone time in nature do you actually spend?  How can you increase it?

          Have you ever been touched by the divine?  Can you tell this story?