All Praise To Him!

“I tell you.” He replied, “If they keep quiet, even the stones will cry out!” - Luke 19:40

It’s Thanksgiving Day.  I’m nestled with my family in a Sierra Nevada cabin in a little mountain town called Sugarpine.  I love coming up here.  We’ve been doing it for years and it usually comes as a well needed rest seasoned with sweet company, quality-time together, tripping over the mess we make, and the occasional edgy quip as we succeed in sharing over 100 continual hours together.  I took a walk with my dad this morning as we’ve done many times. It dawned on me that we’ve been walking these roads together for years. I love my dad and I am grateful to still have him in my life.  I'm thankful for my husband who initiated this Thanksgiving Day tradition with my parents.  I'm thankful my teenage kids consider this one of their holiday "favorites".  So... I’m working to be "present", but distractions come easily (in fact, typing this might be one of them!) 

What is it about the lure of "checking out" this is so compelling?  It takes a lot of intention to stay aware and tuned in relationally...but it's worth it.  There is something about sharing moments with those I love that causes me to be more grateful for them.  That gratitude brings life and joy.  It seems the same when I spend a moment or two with God.  Somehow in his magnificent glorious way, He authors praise unto himself; not because He is an ego-maniac but because He knows what will truly give us life and joy.

Psalm 8:1-2 Says, “Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

God ordains the praises of infants and children to literally push back the presence of the enemy!...Enemy BE SILENCED!  We lift our voice to the Lord our God, who is in all, through all, and in whom we live and move and have our being!  So let the mess happen -it's evidence of life inside the walls of that space, let the edgy words go - they don't bring life at all - don't offer them and don't ingest them.  God inhabits the praise of His people - His creation!  That's why today I want to share with you something so magnificent…so surprising...it's God’s choir in crickets!  You may think I’m crazy but that’s OK... I don’t think you will once you hear the music. Stay listening for at least 3 minutes...the "voices" that come are incredible!...Close your eyes and listen...BTW some of the comments in the comment box of the song are not for young eyes (you gotta love "free speech"- but God's much bigger than that for sure!)

https://soundcloud.com/acornavi/robert-wilson-crickets-audio?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

Can you imaging, our God, who is not bound by time hears the choir of this beautiful melody all the time...If He can make a song out of a cricket's life, He can make one out of yours and mine.  It's interesting to note how incomplete this "choir" would be with just one cricket...It's the collective voice that creates a symphony.  So this year as we gather more with friends and family, I will have this choir in my head reminding me to be thankful for those I'm with, even when it gets messy or unpredictable, because in it God is composing His song.

“All creatures of our God and King. 

Life up your voice and with us sing! 

Oh Praise Him!  Oh Praise Him!

Hallelujah!”