Listening Within
Song for this journal.
Are you one of those people who looks up the meaning of a song they like to find out what the lyrics mean or why the artist wrote it? Or are you someone who likes to interpret the meaning yourself, or to leave it ambiguous? What about when it comes to paintings?
I am definitely someone who likes to dissect the frog when it comes to songs I like (especially when it is one of those artsy songs where the lyrics are very very metaphorical). It gives me comfort and satisfies my curiosity to know exactly what the artist was intending to capture or communicate. If it is a song I REALLY like, then I simply must know what it means!
If you are also one of those people who likes to know the meanings, or you are just a curious cat, then I want to share with you about what inspired my painting ‘The Whisper and the Quell’.
A stringent pierce of darkest night
His gentle quell, my soul’s delight
When I created this piece back in 2022, I found myself impressed by the idea that we can be guided by different inner forces in life. Being a Christian, namely, I was thinking about the way that we can be guided by God and His Spirit, or by the devil. God wants to guide us in the right and best direction, and the devil wants to do the opposite. If you are not a believer, then I think you will still be able to relate to the sense of having forces of good and evil trying to guide your direction. We often see this depicted artistically as having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.
You know what? It can be challenging to tell the inner voices apart! When you are at crossroads and have a decision to make, you can find yourself tossed to and fro by conflicting thoughts. I know I have. How do you know which direction to go in, or which voice to trust?
~~~
The maiden kneels quietly in the field. A few miles behind her, the village is still sleeping. A peaceful yet purposeful expression rests on her face as she sits in the stillness of the early morning, with nothing but the quiet that has its own presence, punctured by the rustle of dew-covered grass and crows flying overhead. In this space, she can think. No, she can hear.
The dark grey kid nudges up close to her ear, the passageway to the mind. A whisper, a tickle in the ear, causes doubts to rise like wind-driven waves of the cold sea.
The lamb nestled in her lap gently rests its head upon her chest, sending warmth into her heart. A natural reassurance flows of things known deep down, not forcefully, but like a stream that has always known its course.
It is up to her to decide which voice to heed.
It seems like art makes itself sometimes. I did not explicitly intend for the setting to be in the early morning (I just thought the colours would look cool), but it is actually so fitting! When the world is still asleep, that is often when we can hear our thoughts the clearest. No external noise, just what is in our minds.
A lot of people find it necessary to have quiet time in the morning before the day begins in order to gain clarity. Jesus often went away in the early hours of the morning to pray. It must have been essential for him, as someone who would be surrounded by crowds all the time. Making time to be away from the noise of life, usually by going out into nature, has been something that has helped me to think more clearly as well.
“The voice of our Shepherd is like a reassuring glow from within that calms the storm.”
Back to the core of the piece. The enemy’s insinuations in our minds can feel like piercing arrows, causing turmoil, confusion and doubt. It can feel like darkness creeping in, putting heaviness upon us. The voice of our Shepherd, however, is like a reassuring glow from within that calms the storm. It’s not a mere feeling, but a knowing, and it can keep us steady even in the most intense mental and emotional barrage. Somewhere deep down within us, the truth we know resonates in its unforced yet undeniable way.
And so how can we know the truth more clearly so we are not just relying on our own sense or understanding of it? Jesus, who claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, said this in John 8:31-32:
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The truth that makes us free from what would otherwise lead us down the wrong path and hurt our lives is found in Jesus.
Send me a message and let me know what you gathered from this piece!
“Somewhere deep down within us, the truth we know resonates in its unforced yet undeniable way.”
