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Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm!

John Greenleaf Whittier

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Over the last few days I have been on an off back with Narziß und Goldmund. A duality of aspects of me. I have according to my dreams been more often Narziß.

The journey into searching for me really began with St Francis and his famous prayer.

—

Là où sont les ténèbres, que je mette la lumière.

Là où est la tristesse, que je mette la joie.

Ô Seigneur, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu’à consoler, à être compris qu’à comprendre, à être aimé qu’à aimer.

—

In which he expresses his heartfelt bodhisattva vows.

I have yet to find a more erudite expression for contact with one’s soul than “o still small voice of calm.”

Which reminds us that no matter what is transpiring there is something which persists and remains unsullied by all that drama. It is an injunction to detach and not to be such a drama queen caught and enthralled in the maelstrom of emotions. The words exhort one to achieve balance and perspective. It suggests being the calm in the storm. It hints that ambitious striving is not the be all and end all.

We could all of us do with a little more near silent reconnection with our essence. For so often the quiet whispering wisdom of our soul, our inner being, is drowned out in the hectic cacophony of modern existence. Our list of seemingly oh so important devoirs inundates us and our FOMO steers us like a tiny boat in a raging tempest.

We have often lost touch with our soul, our anchor.

Our inner candle which burns softly and which silently radiates can be missed in the loud relentless fake CGI of modern ways. It is not flashy and relentless. It not unnerving and unsettling. It is always there should we seek it.

We should all endeavour to be more attentive to the vital utterances of our still small voices of calm.