“Do not go outside, come back inside: within man dwells the truth” (St. Augustine).
How often we seek outside, in the world, in events, in the media, in encounters and in other people, that which in reality we can only find within ourselves! We often forget that, if we live in a state of grace, the Trinity Herself has established Her dwelling place in our soul and has erected in it Her temple of truth. In this inner temple we can withdraw at any time and enter into an intimate dialogue with God within ourselves.
Our senses push us outwards. They are easily distracted and scattered. We often value the intensity of our impressions and the emotions they evoke as being particularly important, when in reality they pass very quickly.
The experience of the prophet Elijah was different when God told him to come out of his cave to meet Him:
“A great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave” (1 Kings 19:11-13).
This still small voice is found in the presence of the Holy Spirit.