A still, small voice

Published in Technology Review:

Humans are the third-biggest source of seismic noise. Everyday urban activities like commutes, or stadiums full of fans simultaneously going wild in “football quakes,” are strong enough to register on seismometers.
“It’s transport, like cars, trains, traffic, buses,” says coauthor Paula Koelemeijer of the Royal Holloway University of London. “It’s retail and recreation—not just people going shopping, but also going to parks. It’s workplaces and residences.”
Under normal circumstances, this human noise merges with and muffles natural seismic activity. Exactly how much our behavior affects the levels of background noise has been hard to work out until now. Lockdown presented a unique opportunity for researchers not only to control for human activity but also to hear seismic noise that otherwise gets drowned out.

If you go to the link, you will see a video showing how the earth simply quieted down as more nations entered lockdown. One added benefit to this was that birdsong became more vividly audible:

‘Many may have also noticed that birdsong this year appears louder than normal. In practice this isn’t the case, but the general ambient noise from traffic etc. masks this noise,' Mr Peckham added.

'Because ambient noise levels are significantly lower birdsong is more audible and noticeable and is a very pleasant side-effect of the current lockdown.'

I feel like there's an excellent metaphor in that for the spiritual life.

Cardinal Sarah, and many others before him, have noted the value of Silence. If we never quiet ourselves internally, then how will we hear the voice of God speaking in our hearts? C.S Lewis famously remarked that modern man's ever-increasing disquiet is in fact diabolical--and that was midcentury! How much more has Screwtape had his satisfaction in this age!

The Holy Spirit is like that birdsong that we are only able to become aware of when we silence all the ambient noise in our souls.