I caught myself this week, following a sneezing fit, lamenting that what was left of Spring was a plethora of allergens with none of the color and bloom that ought to accompany them. That was a grumpy thought, though. What I enjoy most about Spring isn’t actually the color. It’s the sound.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes captures that sentiment better than I’m able, so I’m going to invite you to dive into the symphony of creation this week through his eyes and ears. Let it inspire you and send you out to revel in beauty.
“Spoken to”
Walking by the sea
you listen to the language of the waves,
you wish you knew what they were saying,
their foreign tongue,
sonorous, untranslated,
the sibilants so smoothly pronounced,
their vowels so nuanced,
priestly chants, blessings, perhaps,
and for you, for you.
Standing still in woods,
the wind in trees is a different dialect,
the accents in other places,
but prayers, you are sure,
of the same liturgy,
you want to pray the prayer.
Birdsong, unexpected, on a city street,
desert quiet, deep as sleep,
the tick of a patient clock,
the beat of your heart,
a voice without language
in the swaying of subway riders,
beloved, and what they mean,
voice without words that comes
and goes like prayer, like dreams.
The voice in the pure song of silence.
Sometimes, as with a kiss,
you needn’t know the words,
only that you are being spoken to.
Peace,
Brandon
First United Methodist Church of Bristol 