JUST LISTENING

 

I stepped out the front door that early morning, looked down the street, and just listened. The birds of early spring were whistling, chortling, cawing, tweeting, and more..... We get so used to our "natural surroundings" that I suspect we forget that they, too, can praise their Creator.

Among Biblical reminders:

*Meadows (“clothed with flocks of sheep”) and valleys (“carpeted with grain”) “all shout and sing for joy!” (Psalm 65:13 NLT)

*As we look “up”: “The heavens declare the glory of God' the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2)

*Watching the heaving waves, hearing the thunder of the surf and the whispering retreating waves: “The seas have lifted up their voice” (Psalm 93:3)

*The whole landscape: “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy” (Psalm 96:11-12).

As a still-single young adult (age 31), six months apart I lost my parents to cancer and a heart attack. In that difficult “next year” of grief plus re-homing their belongings and selling their home, I had to make many trips across one of the passes of majestic Mount Rainier. Near the summit, there was a turnoff that I gladly took for a driver's break. As I got out of the car, there rearing above me, in glistening splendor, was the state's trademark mountain. As I paused, I listened to my heart in awe of this sight reminding me of the power and strength of its Creator.

I had memorized much of Psalm 139, and several verses revisited as I considered the mountain grandeur:

Verse 5: God knew the past and the future: “You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

Verses 8-10: Wherever I go—the heights, the depths, beyond the dawn, on the far side of the sea, “even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Washington's tallest mountain (a “sleeping volcano”) was worshiped by Native Americans, who called it “Tahoma.” (Strangely, it was later named "Rainier" by a British naval officer who surveyed Washington's coast and decided to give the mountain his friend's name. The friend never saw it in person!) I can understand their awe for a magnificent structure of creation. It helped me “lift mine eyes unto the hills” (Psalm 121), past my earth-bound worries and concerns, to my Creator.

I suspect too often we slam off the alarm, rush through the morning hygiene tasks, grab a breakfast and run to start our days. But now, in early mornings, the earth beckons me to pause and listen to the distinct voices the Creator gave the different bird species.

Maybe it's just me, but the gentle sunrise stillness especially draws me to worship. The cool, the dew, the chirps and chortles of winged life--just listening prompts my heart to praise the Creator.

SONGSTERS

I hear them before I see them, the quail chirping “Rebecca” as they walk across the narrow wooden fence about four feet away from my office window. Sometimes it’s a Mama Quail with four or five half-grown quail following. “Rebecca, rebecca,” she warns as they teeter. Polite and skittish, their parade makes me smile. Then there are noisy birds, and to encounter them I only need to walk a block and a half to a home where someone has gone all out with bird houses and yard art. It doesn’t photograph well because of the shade, but trust me: I tried counting and gave up at over fifty birdhouses and feeders. In one yard! And the noise! Its nesting tenants are the more vociferous of winged critters.

In summertime, especially, I think of the relationship with nature enjoyed some eight hundred years ago by a simple man we know as St. Francis of Assisi.  He wrote the lyrics to “All Creatures of Our God in King” sometime in the 1200s (yes, 800 years ago) and it was first published in a hymnal in 1623 (yes, nearly 400 years ago). Yet it continues to place high on lists of the world’s most beloved hymns.

Francis was born to a wealthy Italian family in 1182, converting to Christianity at a young age. He served as a soldier in his early years and endured a year as a prisoner of war in central Italy. After a time of personal turmoil, he renounced his earlier life of ease to become an itinerant evangelist to peasants throughout the Mediterranean lands. At 28, he founded the Franciscan Order of Friars, known for adopting his religious beliefs and simple lifestyle that kept him near nature. This was memorialized in a painting by the Italian artist Giotto, showing Francis feeding birds. Francis is said to have written sixty hymns of praise and worship in his desire to encourage church music.

There are many legends associated with his life, including supernatural behavior of animals. In one legend, one day while on a hike he came across a flock of birds.  When they didn’t fly away, he decided to preach them a little sermon about praising their Creator for His protection and provision. Sermon over, they flew away happily. How true this is, we don’t know, but we do have Psalm 148, which tells all creation—the heavenly bodies, the weather, the landscapes, and all living things, to praise the Lord. We now know that scientists have catalogued 5,400 species of singing animals. Francis is also credited with setting up the first Christmas live nativity scene.

The year before he died, Francis was very ill and his vision was failing. It was at this time that he wrote the lyrics to “All Creatures of our God and King,” based on Psalm 148. At his deathbed he requested that Psalm 142 be read to him.  It includes this verse: “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who knows my way.”

Our paraphrased English version of this hymn came out about 120 years ago through the efforts of a village rector in England, who prepared it for a children’s choir festival. It was forgotten for a time, then reappeared in an English hymnal in 1906 as a canon arrangement.  

As we continue through the challenges and discouragements of the pandemic, it’s always good to shift gears and sing praises to God.  St. Francis’s hymn would be a good start. Then consider two others about nature:  “All Things Bright and Beautiful” (1848, by the wife of an Anglican bishop in Ireland) and “For the Beauty of the Earth” (1864, by an English scholar).

Even better—get out and take a walk, best in early morning when the birds sing their hearts out.  And just listen.
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Sing along with this "You Tube" presentation with lyrics, featuring pipe organ and congregational singing at the large Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdfTekZcgGM