Human identity is complex. Nothing is ever given simply
or immediately. Even the simplest act of perception has
many layers... Time and memory often reveal things later
that were staring us in the eye, but we never noticed them.
The quest for the truth of things is never ending. Every
experience is open to countless readings and interpretations.
We never see a thing completely. In sure anticipation, our
eyes have always already altered what awaits our gaze.
The search for truth is difficult and uncomfortable. Because
the mystery is too much for us, we may opt to settle for
the surface of things. Comfort becomes more important than
true presence. This is precisely why we need to hear the
discerning voice.
or immediately. Even the simplest act of perception has
many layers... Time and memory often reveal things later
that were staring us in the eye, but we never noticed them.
The quest for the truth of things is never ending. Every
experience is open to countless readings and interpretations.
We never see a thing completely. In sure anticipation, our
eyes have always already altered what awaits our gaze.
The search for truth is difficult and uncomfortable. Because
the mystery is too much for us, we may opt to settle for
the surface of things. Comfort becomes more important than
true presence. This is precisely why we need to hear the
discerning voice.
Somewhere in every heart there is a discerning voice. This
voice distrusts the status quo. It sounds out the falsity in
things and encourages the dissent from the images things
tend to assume. It underlines the secret crevices where the
surface has become strained. It advises distance and opens
up a new perspective through which the concealed meaning
of a situation might emerge... Its intention is to keep the heart
clean and clear. This voice is an inner whisper not obvious or
known to others outside... Yet much depends on that small
voice. The truth of its whisper marks the line between honor
and egoism, kindness and chaos. In extreme situations,
which have been emptied of all shelter and tenderness,
that small voice whispers from somewhere beyond and
encourages the heart to hold out for dignity, respect, beauty
and love. That whisper brings forgotten nobility into an arena
where violence has traduced everything. This faithful voice
can illuminate the dark lands of despair. It becomes both the
sign and presence of a transcendence that no force or horror
can extinguish. Each day in the world, in the prisons, hospitals
and killing fields, against all the odds, this still, small voice
continues to echo the beauty of the human being. In haunted
places this voice carries the light of beauty like a magical
lantern to transform the desolation, to remind us that
regardless of what may be wrenched from us, there is a
dignity and hope that we do not have to lose. This voice
brings us directly into contact with the inalienable presence
of beauty in the soul.
voice distrusts the status quo. It sounds out the falsity in
things and encourages the dissent from the images things
tend to assume. It underlines the secret crevices where the
surface has become strained. It advises distance and opens
up a new perspective through which the concealed meaning
of a situation might emerge... Its intention is to keep the heart
clean and clear. This voice is an inner whisper not obvious or
known to others outside... Yet much depends on that small
voice. The truth of its whisper marks the line between honor
and egoism, kindness and chaos. In extreme situations,
which have been emptied of all shelter and tenderness,
that small voice whispers from somewhere beyond and
encourages the heart to hold out for dignity, respect, beauty
and love. That whisper brings forgotten nobility into an arena
where violence has traduced everything. This faithful voice
can illuminate the dark lands of despair. It becomes both the
sign and presence of a transcendence that no force or horror
can extinguish. Each day in the world, in the prisons, hospitals
and killing fields, against all the odds, this still, small voice
continues to echo the beauty of the human being. In haunted
places this voice carries the light of beauty like a magical
lantern to transform the desolation, to remind us that
regardless of what may be wrenched from us, there is a
dignity and hope that we do not have to lose. This voice
brings us directly into contact with the inalienable presence
of beauty in the soul.
John O'Donohue
~
Photo from the Internet
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