Some birdsong is fluent and tuneful, but I realized as I
walked this morning how so many birds sing a staccato song. Playing the cello
or any stringed instrument, when you abandon the bow for the finger and pluck
the strings, it is called pizzicato, and some birdsong resembles that. A
succession of notes played or sung short and sharp and separated by even the
briefest of pauses.
Listening this morning reminded me of the sound of a newborn
baby as he or she begins to waken up. When I had newborn babies, I remember
thinking it sounded like the motor on a motorboat spluttering into life and
finally achieving an uninterrupted wail. Not the most pleasant sound, but one
which achieves action and gets a response.
There are pizzicato tunes all around us in the world, picked
out like a warm-up to a fully developed sound – whether a melody or the cries
of a newborn baby or the cacophony of a lawn mower or a power boat. Not all
pizzicato sounds are good. Some lead in the direction of violence or
disruption, of tension and discord. It’s up to us to be alert and aware of the ‘music’
of our times, be prayerful and willing to speak out and take action to cut the
power before something nasty whirrs into action.
And able to recognise when the pizzicato is leading to a
beautiful tune.
Ah, that needs divine guidance and wisdom. Live close to God.
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