Night Vision – Wisdom Chant

As we must wait in the dark till our eyes can see,
So we wait in silence till our hearts can hear the thoughts of God.

Listen

This lyric compares the spiritual awareness which comes about after prolonged exposure to silence with the way our eyes adapt to darkness simply by being in the dark. There is no act of will on our part other than the determination to wait. I came across the analogy in Cynthia Bourgeault’s book “Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening” and it had a particular resonance for me as, back in the days when pictures were processed with chemicals not computers, I worked for a brief while in a photographic factory. There I became familiar with the experience of learning to find my way around in total darkness so the idea stayed with me. Some time later I came across a startling translation of what I take to be Jesus’ own description of transformed consciousness reported by John the Evangelist: A child of God hears the thoughts of God (John 8:47). Coupling the two together I also invoked the idea prevalent in the Christian Tradition of the heart as the organ of spiritual perception.

Night Vision is intended as a stilling chant so take it gently adhering to the phrasing marked to get the best effect.