As I sit down to write this reflection it is raining, not the kind of misty rain that you can’t really see but big juicy heavy raindrops, the kind that soak you to the skin and hammer against the window panes. I love listening to and watching the rain. I love the house we have just moved to for many reasons, one being we have a big patio door that opens from the living room into the garden. We have a big comfy chair next to it. I have loved sitting in that chair and watching the rain come down, hitting the patio and bouncing off, running down the window and puddling in the garden. One of my favourite things about camping is when you are all bundled up in bed and you hear the slow steady plick plick plick of rain beginning and turn into the steady drumming on canvas.
Recently our daughter Zoe was given a beautiful book with buttons you can push to hear birds singing. It has all the British garden birdsongs in it. She loves turning the pages and pushing the buttons and now when we are out on walks every now and then we hear a bird singing and can say “Zoe listen thats a song thrush” or sometimes we can play name that bird among ourselves. I love the song of birds on an evening at twilight as they all sing goodnight to each other. (I’m fully aware most of it will be territorial or mating but to me they are singing just for me as I go for a run!) I don’t think there is a single person who could match the dawn chorus for beauty or intricacy with their voice.
At the recent Inspire International Prayer Gathering we were praising God for who he is and all that he has done. Someone referenced a talk by Louie Giglio about stars and whales singing. It is a phenomenal talk where he overlays the sounds that a number of different stars make as they rotate on their axis and then adds in whale song and eventually brings in our songs on top of that and we have the opportunity to join in with the song that the whole of creation is singing and declare ‘how great is our God!’ The video is well worth a watch. There is a 20 minute version or an 8 minute version if you are more pushed for time!
As if all that wasn’t enough…I returned to this article to edit a few bits and bring it together to a conclusion and the most incredible thunderstorm is going on around me!! The thunder is so loud it is rattling the windows…the flashes of lightning are purple and pink, there are forks of lightning flashing across the sky and lighting up the whole street. What an amazing way of creation showing its power and praise of God!!
I can’t help but think that God has everything from stunning descant vocals in the bird song and more mellow alto and tenor tones with the whales. He has a full string section with the stars, the soft percussion of rain on canvas and big drum and base beat drops in the thunder. As if that wasn’t enough he has a full light show to go with it! If that isn’t psalm 148 in action I don’t know what is!!!
This isn’t a new realisation…in 1923 Thomas Christholm wrote the hymn Great is thy faithfulness based on Lamentations 3:23. In it he speaks of joining with all nature in manifold witness. God has given us all ways that we can praise him. They might not all be musical or song related but how will you join with all nature in manifold witness to God’s great faithfulness mercy and love?
