A Still Small Voice

Rasa, Ticino, SwitzerlandPhoto courtesy of hikr.org

Whether you turn to the right or to the left,

your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,

“This is the way; walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21

I boarded my Emirates flight bound for Zurich on May 27, 1997. There were two stop-overs, Bangkok and Abu Dhabi. Siegfried Schurch, my Swiss host, met me upon my arrival in Zurich. He brought me to his lovely home in Winterthur where he and his wife Vreni reside.

I spent a few days in Winterthur and at the Bernese Oberland where Siegfried and Vreni have a chalet in a lovely village called Gimmelwald. It was such a memorable experience. We took long hikes to Murren, a tourist spot in the Swiss Alps portion of Bern.

A Glimpse of Gimmelwald in Late Spring

(photo courtesy of www.gimmelwald.ch)

On June 1, in Zurich, I boarded the train that was to take me to Bellinzona, then from Bellinzona, boarded another train bound for Locarno. Several of us got off at Verdasio, where there is a funivia stazione. They call it a seilbahn in Swiss. From this small station, we rode a gondola, a small cable car good for only 6 persons that took us across a deep gorge to the other side – Rasa.

From Verdasio to Rasa

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kunz

How I ever ended up being in Rasa at that point of my life is beyond me. Never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine being in a small mountain village in the Swiss Alps. Many years ago, in the 1980’s I first heard about Hans Burki and the Life Revision seminar that he conducts yearly. I had a faint desire in my heart to someday be a part of this retreat, but I never thought it would materialize.

One thing is sure, it was planned and orchestrated by my heavenly Father.

It was in the 1990s that I went through a very difficult period in my life. But I firmly believe that out of life’s reversals come good things. God Himself says in Romans 8:28 that “...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And out of this deep and dark valley experience I emerged, transformed. Like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon.

Much of this experience can never be put into words. But, certainly the process and the results of that transforming experience can be partially described and openly shared.

“This is the way, walk in it.” These are the words that I would hear in my spirit, not audibly in the way our physical ears would hear a spoken word, but an impression, a knowing.

Somehow, I knew the next step in that stage of my life was to write Hans Burki and ask him if I could be given a chance to take part in the yearly seminars that he offered. I wrote him a spiritual autobiography in 1996. Three weeks later, his reply came saying that I had been accepted to join the Rasa retreat for June of 1997. When I reached Rasa I discovered that most of the participants had been waiting two to three years before being finally allowed to attend!

There were a number of constraints and I thought I would never make it. But it was a faith journey that God wanted me to take, and all I did was to heed that still small voice telling me what to do.

When I got off from the cable car, Hans was there waiting for us. I introduced myself to him, “Hello Hans, I’m Lidia, from the Philippines.” He shook my hand, and looking into my eyes, he simply said, “Welcome to Rasa. You made it."

As I walked the stone pathway leading to Rasa that June evening in 1997, I was not really excited the way I know some people would be. I felt like I was in a play acting out my role. I was simply being obedient, doing what I knew needed to be done.

Being in Rasa was something that I wanted, yet when it was happening right before my eyes, it seemed as if I was just quietly acting out my part.

After all, it is true. God IS the Scriptwriter and the Director of my life drama. And He was waiting for me in Rasa.(Originally published in this weblog on April 22, 2008 at 12:16 PM)

Other entries from my Rasa Diary:

Rasa Revisited

Jacob's New Name

Water From Bethlehem's Well