Heaven in ordinarie

One of the pictures above my desk is Clive Hicks-Jenkins' The Prophet Fed by a Raven. 



The prophet's clothes might be yours or mine, drinking from the brook helped by a chunky mug; Elijah has become present in our time.  His eyes might be closed in prayer - or is that a sideways glance down (modesty?) or inwards (reflection?) and away both from the food and the supportive raven.  No black-feathered raven this: red and fiery with tail feathers which might be tongues of flame - a premonition of the chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated Elisha from Elijah, separating present from past?

So, for me, the painting brings the spiritual into our present: heaven in ordinary.  Which is what I hope this blog will be about.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.  You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there."

So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17:1-6)