Friday, February 24, 2012

My soul is singing.

We dread early morning band.  As a family – we disdain it.  It’s not the “band” part.  It’s the “early morning” part.  No one wants to get up a half hour early to deposit the kids on the school roundabout, half asleep and a little hungry, because they inevitably have to settle for a fiber bar and a piece of fruit for breakfast on early morning band days.  My husband especially hates it, because he usually has to make the run while I’m wrapped up with the baby.  While I think it’s well worth the trouble for our children to have the chance to learn an instrument while they are still young – it is much harder to put in the practice time, once there are the competing demands for your time that come with maturity and responsibility – I haven’t minded letting him bear the brunt of the crabby kids and pre-coffee driving.

It was one of the rare mornings where I was not otherwise occupied, so I thought I’d better step up to relieve my husband from his least cherished duty this morning.  We got another minor snowfall last night, so I wasn’t sure how the driveway or roads would be, but we got our coats on and left the house at sunrise; to my delight, right at the pinnacle of this snowfall’s immaculate beauty. 

The snow wasn’t enough to sled or build a snowman, but it was the kind of icy snow that coats the world with crusty white sparkles that catch the light and turn a tree or a road sign into a work of winter art.  The sky was a rich winter blue, and the light of sunrise on the horizon was warm and golden, silhouetting the snow-decked branches of the trees, and casting halos of sparkling iridescence around them.  Despite the cautious driving, and the lack of caffeine to fuel my cautious driving, I felt the warmth and joy of praise spreading through my body.  As I inhabited the moment, I did not sing aloud, but it honestly felt like my soul was singing.

I could try to pen new words for that old feeling, but we already have the beloved words of every church hymnal:

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

A hymn so loved, because so many have shared in the same experience.  This amazing universe, this fantastic world, leads humanity to ponder the possibility of a Creator.  Many argue that God must certainly exist, for such complexity and beauty can’t have simply evolved on its own.  I argue that God must certainly exist, because when I stand in awe of the world around me, it moves my soul to sing.  I believe it must be the image of God in me that the sunrise stirred so powerfully.  In those moments, God is not just real, but present.

I pray you also are blessed to know such a stunning moment of clarity today.

I often think of the heavens your hands have made, and of the moon and stars you put in place. Then I ask, "Why do you care about us humans? Why are you concerned for us weaklings?" Psalm 8:3-4

2 comments:

  1. Oh how I love moments like these! The world is SO amazingly beautiful!!!

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  2. No doubt! It can be such a paradox of beauty and brokenness. But at times, living on Earth is just breathtaking.

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