The Sounds of Praise

“All creation rightly gives you praise.” (Roman Catholic Eucharistic Prayer)

“Praise him, sun and moon, praise him all you shining stars! Let them praise the name of the Lord….” (Ps 148)

“The entire creation is singing hymns to Allah” (Quran)

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The sound of praise: the calls and songs of birds, frogs, crickets; the whine of cicadas; the chatter and laughter of children, tones both soft and raucous as adults converse. Each sound, each utterance, is a statement of being.

“…like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;

Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,

Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came. (from Gerard Manley Hopkins, As Kingfishers Catch Fire”)

What better form of praise could there be than to speak out the identity gifted to us by the Author of Creation? TheTo sing, to croak, to screech the sound that identifies us as belonging and contributing to the vast, interconnected fabric of creation? This American Toad sings out its being and praise on a Spring morning with such vitality that the waters around it ripple!

The majestic sound of the sea as it both gives and takes, creates and destroys, with each wave upon the shore; is its roar a song of praise for its Creator? I think maybe it is.

Marshlands team with sounds. Here, in late summer, crickets sing, cicadas whine, catbirds call out, and a distant raven croaks its being. Each one states its identity. Each one gives praise in its own voice.

If we listen, even now, as summer ebbs and fall approaches, even as the birds quiet and many depart, even as frogs and toads prepare for their long winter dormancy, we can still hear prayer. In the air. All around us but unseen, the air sings itself with motion. Listen to its song as it moves through the leaves, accompanied by beautiful cricket song.

The universe and all it holds, every planet, star and creature, has a voice to speak out what it is; has a song to praise the One who made it. We are blessed with the hearing of this great chorus.

Let us sing. Let us listen. Let us pray.