Back in the UK, amidst Autumn Busy-ness, in search of Quiet

*

“Swim, O my nous, in the sweetest tranquility!” (Blessed) Elder Joseph the Hesychast

*

When the heart is hard and parched up,

Come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life,

Come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides,

Shutting me out from beyond,

Come to me, my lord of silence,

With thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched,

Shut up in a corner,

Break open the door, my king,

And come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind

With delusion and dust, O thou holy one,

Thou wakeful one, come

With thy light and thy thunder.

(Gitanjali-Song Offerings, 39, by Rabindranath Tagore)