NIGHT CALLING by Linda Yael Schiller

It can be hard to find enough quiet to be able to hear when we receive a soul-call (our internal hotline to the Divine)…

Artistic Photography by Jo Rodriguez of Catalyst

 It takes several steps to really hear: We first need to stop and hold still, then to pay attention, then to actually listen to the words we hear inside ourselves.

This poem contrasts two types of callings: The loud trumpeting of a shofar (ram's horn) which is played on the holy day of Rosh Hashana; Tekiah is the name of one of the notes; and is meant as a stirring communal call that none who are present can miss hearing.  

The other is the reference to the "still small Voice" that the prophet Elijah heard from God in Kings 19:12. Here God tells Elijah that:

"It is not only in the noise of the thunder and the fire that we can hear God's voice, but also in the deep quiet of our own hearts and minds."

"Shema" is the Hebrew word for "Listen"; and is the opening word of the core prayer in the liturgy in each service.

Night Calling

by Linda Yael Schiller

Deep in the hush of the night-cocoon

While the world sleeps

I wake to the call of soft silence.

“Get up” it says-

“Go” it urges:

Listen to this moment.

When the whispered Voice of darkness

Calls your name.

Do not ignore the call.

Shema! Listen!

Not just to the shofar blast of Tekiah

But to this whisper-soft

still small Voice like Elijah heard

Deep within: Calling, calling your name.

Listen to your soul-song

And allow your soul to resonate

With the shiver of the strings

plucked by the Source

of the music of the stars.

As a finely tuned violin also sounds

when another is played nearby.

Follow that sound as you take your soul’s journey

To this place/time

That is both now and then.

Linda Yael Schiller, MSW, LICSW is a psychotherapist, educator, author and dream-worker in Watertown, MA.  Now in private practice, she has taught extensively at Boston University, Simmons College, and Regis College, as well as at national and international forums and seminars on dream-work, spiritual mind/body work, trauma treatment, group work, and integrating practical Kabbalah into both therapy and life.  She nurtures her soul with gardening, hiking, dancing, writing, and being with family and friends. You may connect with Linda via her website here, or her dream blog here. 

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