Is Spiritual Discernment Like Listening to a Crystal Radio?

            Recently I was in our backyard taking some early morning quiet time.  In such moments, I try to be attentive to whatever may arise.  At one point a phrase appeared unexpectedly: “crystal radios.”  My first thought was images of ads from my childhood where someone is wearing antique headphones connected to a little device on a table — leaning forward and listening carefully.

            I turned to Wikipedia and found this description:

A crystal radio receiver, also called a crystal set, is a simple radio receiver, popular in the early days of radio. It uses only the power of the received radio signal to produce sound, needing no external power. It is named for its most important component, a crystal detector, originally made from a piece of crystalline mineral such as galena. This component is now called a diode.

Crystal radios are the simplest type of radio receiver and can be made with a few inexpensive parts, such as a wire for an antenna, a coil of wire, a capacitor, a crystal detector, and earphones (because a crystal set has insufficient power for a loudspeaker). However, they are passive receivers, while other radios use an amplifier powered by current from a battery or wall outlet to make the radio signal louder. Thus, crystal sets produce rather weak sound and must be listened to with sensitive earphones, and can receive stations only within a limited range of the transmitter.^[4][i]

            As I pondered this, I wondered if listening to a crystal radio is a metaphor for spiritual discernment…times when we are hoping for some guidance in a situation we are facing.  I came up with some similarities:

• You are seeking something that is present in the environment but invisible.
• You don’t need external power.  A crystal radio doesn’t depend on batteries, electrical power in your house, or your Wi-Fi router.  With spiritual direction, it’s all within you and in your environment.
• The most important element is the detector. When I am seeking inner guidance, I’m like a detective, searching for clues and hints.
• A crystal radio doesn’t require expensive parts.  When we are seeking out spiritual direction, we don’t need anything but humility, curiosity and awareness.
• You need to listen carefully because the sound is faint.  The nudges and hints we find when we are looking for answers in life require a calm and receptive mind.
• In the beginning, you need instructions on how to build and use the radio.  In the spiritual journey, friends or guides help us learn how to listen and interpret what we may experience.

Other ideas came to mind…

I’ve always appreciated Parker Palmer’s idea that your soul is shy, like a wild animal.  If you want to encounter a deer in a forest and go crashing through the brush, the deer will flee. But if you find a place to be still where you can wait patiently, like sitting on the porch of a cabin in the woods, deer may come to you.  For most of us, everyday life can include a lot of noise and commotion – from our devices, or others, or our busy inner life with its impulses, anxieties, and chatter. We need to do something like waiting respectfully in a forest.

I thought of the story involving the prophet Elijah.  In a time of personal crisis, he retreated to a cave.  After 40 days, he sensed the divine voice would speak to him. His initial expectation was that he would hear it as part of some dramatic events: a great wind, an earthquake, a fire.  But instead, it came to him – as described by different translators — as “a still small voice,” “a sound of minute stillness,” “the sound of sheer silence,” or “a gentle and quiet whisper.”  I love each variation.  A voice that is small and still.  A sound that is very close to silence.  Silence all by itself that nevertheless communicates something.  Or a barely audible whisper.  I know many people who have experienced moments like this.[ii]

I also thought of my years at La Casa de Maria retreat center.  People would come looking for personal guidance.  But epiphanies and insights rarely came right away.  It often took several days of being unplugged, resting, relaxing, and seeking out contemplative settings — on a solo hike, browsing our library, sitting under an oak tree, or meditating in one of the chapels.

I was also reminded of Paul Simon’s new album Seven Psalms, which originated several years ago when he was awakened at 3:30 in the morning feeling as if he was being summoned.  He describes his creative process as more like receiving prompts from beyond his awareness than coming from his own intentions.[iii]

If our crystal set picks up a local radio station, we can expect it to identify itself from time to time.  With spiritual direction, how do we know any message we receive might have a divine origin?  We may never know for certain.  But a simple test is this: is it pointing us in a direction of ethical action, personal responsibility, and loving our neighbor?  That may be a positive indicator.

I recently went online and bought a crystal radio kit for $12. It’s being shipped to me. I’m uncertain whether I’ll be able to build it – concentrating carefully on building small mechanical things has never been my gift.  But I’ll give it a try.  In the meantime, I plan to keep taking that morning quiet time and listen carefully for any message that may be coming my way.

A devout seeker.

“A Family Listening to a Crystal Radio in the 20s”[iv] Possibly an early example of crystal aided group spiritual direction

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[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

[ii] 1 Kings 19:12; translations from The King James Bible, Robert Alter’s The Prophets, the NRSV, and The Message

[iii] My blog post on his album is at https://drjsb.com/2023/07/08/paul-simons-seven-psalms/

[iv] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio