A Singing Father God

‘He will rejoice over you with singing.’ 

I was sitting in the prayer window this morning, enjoying the beauty of the fast-falling golden leaves and noticing that the barer the trees get, the clearer the view. In the profusion of life, vision can be blocked by the lushness of relationships, responsibilities and requirements. Hemmed in – though many of the obstructions are much loved and enjoyed – we can lose sight of what lies beyond. It’s as the leaves begin to drop and the profusion is stripped away, that we can see the view and anticipate the journey.

So Scolty has reappeared, as the Norwegian elm drops her summer attire. And Clach na Ben.

Oops, that was a wee diversion. I was actually going to say that while asking God this morning if I could please hear him singing – wouldn’t it be awesome to hear his voice? Would it be operatic, hip-hop, pop, reggae, chorister?  – I was suddenly aware of the trilling, chirping and chatter of the birds in the larch tree. Singing. Singing.

Sometimes when I ask for the supernatural, I’m answered in the ordinary. The beautiful ordinary becomes extraordinary. My hearing of the birdsong has acquired a new depth, a greater meaning.

He’s rejoicing over you, too.

Wanted - Dead or Alive

Last year I floated in the Dead Sea. It is so buoyant that one can literally float away from shore and find it very difficult to right yourself again. One German lady, rather round, actually had to call for help to regain her footing as she felt herself floating off further than she wanted. 

There is no life in the Dead Sea, just a high concentration of various minerals and especially salt. And it is vast, stretching off to the horizon.

So just now when I read these lines from Ezekiel, I could just see it. This prophet had a picture from God and it concerned a river flowing from God himself, a river of life which flowed down from God and ‘enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.’ 

There have been times in my life where I’ve felt that inside me was a Dead Sea, out of which no life could spring. How encouraging are these words to anyone who recognises that feeling of lifelessness, that the river of life continues to flow from God and empty into the Dead Sea, where it transforms the deadness into a life-giving spring. 

The passage goes on to describe fruit trees flourishing along the banks of the river, trees which bear a continuous crop of nourishing fruit and whose very leaves contain healing properties.

I remember those old posters from the Wild West days. Wanted - Dead or Alive. That's how Jesus feels about each of us. He wants us, whether or not we feel dead or alive inside.

Jesus is the water of life. He nourishes and refreshes us, and that nourishment and refreshment is healing, restorative, even resurrection to those who float in a deadness within.

The river is flowing. It requires no effort from us to make it flow. It flows from God, constantly, and where it empties into the lifeless spots of our lives, it brings healing and life.

I just need to stand in its flow.