SILENT-LISTEN-ENLIST

Thursday 5/23/2013 7:14 AM

I have always been fascinated by anagrams.  So much so that I have taken the letters of my name, MARK ALAN HUGEN, and, with apologies to the grammar police, rearranged them to form a self-description, A HUGER LANK MAN.  When I see words in print I automatically rearrange them to see if there are other words that can be made from the letters or if there are any plays on words or puns that can be made.  I’m certain there is help for people like me but, since I don’t see it as a problem, I am not interested.  I believe the first step toward recovery is the acknowledgment that one has a problem.

My theme for my devotions this week is silence.  I noticed long ago that one of the anagrams of SILENT is LISTEN.  I find it interesting that the prerequisite for being able to listen to someone is that one must be silent.  Today I read 1 Kings 19:9-13 as part of my assigned reading.  It is the account of the Lord revealing himself to Elijah after he complained to God that he was the only one left in Israel who feared God.  There was a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire that would certainly seem to indicate the presence of God, but God was in none of them.  Instead he came to Elijah in a still, small voice that caused Elijah to pull the cloak over his head.  Elijah was looking for power and might but God came so quietly that Elijah had to be silent in order to hear his voice.  When God finally spoke to Elijah he gave him a new mission and Elijah went from that place to fulfill that mission.

I noticed that ENLIST is another anagram of SILENT and LISTEN.  First Elijah was silent before God.  Then he listened to what God said.  Finally he obediently enlisted in the new endeavor God laid before him.  I would do well to follow the example of Elijah, SILENT-LISTEN-ENLIST.