One of my yearnings is to discover my own voice – reach below the multiple chattering voices of my daily life to what John O’Donohue calls ones ‘root-voice.’
In Divine Beauty, he describes this voice as a voice of compassion and one that is not absorbed with itself.
“The voice of compassion is not absorbed with itself. It is not a voice intent on its own satisfaction or affirmation; rather it is imbued with understanding, forgiveness and healing.
This voice dwells within every human heart. Ultimately it is the voice of the soul. Part of the joy in developing a spiritual life is the discovery of this beautiful gift that you perhaps never suspected you had.
When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination you will begin to hear this gentle voice at the core of life. It is deeper and surer that an all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self criticism and bleakness.
All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul. It is always there and the more deeply you learn to listen the greater the surprises and discoveries that will unfold.
To enter into the gentleness of your own soul changes the tone and quality of you life. Your life is no longer consumed by hunger for the next event, experience or achievement. You learn to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth. You gain a new respect of yourself and others and you learn to see how wonderfully precious this one life is.
You begin to see through the enchanting veils of illusion that you had taken for reality. You no longer squander yourself on things and situations that deplete your essence.
You know that your true source is not outside you. Your soul is your there source and a new energy and passion awakened in you. The soul dwells where beauty lives”.