Noise Breaks Upon Us

So tell me why I should run for cover
At the sound of the coming thunder
All I hear is the cry of my lover, So take your shot, I won’t turn back .   

Needtobreathe

Some sounds suit the way we live and some sounds jar the psyche.  The wind chimes in their tinkling rhythm kept me awake.  Now I feel their fit with the ocean breeze and night-time fog.  The dog next door barks.  I hear its yelp at six a.m. I enjoy dogs and have no quarrel with the occasional bark. This early I’m in REM and the bark finds its way into dystopian dreams. The ice-cream-man is a universal sound.  The calliope bell, Farmer and the Dell, means popsicles in every neighborhood.  Other easily recognized noises are not so pleasant.

Downtown Pasadena working with Dr. John Perkins (Let Justice Roll Down) Erik slept to the sound of sirens and police helicopters.  In Joshua Tree, near the Twentynine Palms Marine base, local bombing practice shakes the basin.  Late Summer is monsoon season. Hard rains and wind-slanted showers pelt the aluminum bathroom fan alerting us to present storms.  One such storm washed away our front yard, changing ever my response to downpours (Oh, Texas!).

A simple sound; the two-a.m. phone call can change everything.  That same sound mid-morning confirming a new-employer has a completely different tone.  Perception of noises determines my response.  What I hold to and what I let go.  Camping outdoors I sleep terrifically.  Those who fear bugs, bears, snakes and storm won’t find rest in a tent dependent on nature.  Though perfectly secure; when focus is on fear the peace won’t come. 

Noise breaks upon us from the outside-in. May we hammock (resting with full-weight) in the sounds we hear as symphony.  Let us not fear in chaos and cacophony.

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. 

Selah.

When Everything Is Shaken

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.---Psalm 46

We heard the jarring news the first morning after returning home from Guatemala. While we were out of the country a friend lost a teenage son. Coupled with that news we heard that our sister in law was now a patient of Hospice. Though the earth should change…

In Santiago we hopped into the bed of a pickup truck along with twenty other locals and headed to the refugee camp. The town of Santiago lies South of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. On October 4, 2005 hurricane Stan came off the Pacific with winds up to 80 M.P.H. and dropped around twenty inches of rain. In its wake there were 1,500 confirmed dead and 3.000 missing in Guatemala alone. Though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea…

Near Santiago 1,800 of 10,000 were dead and the rest were moved into refugee camps (more on those in another blog post). Government officials and professionals advised the locals that the camps were temporary. Eight years later the refugee camps are still full and significant change has not occurred. Though it’s waters roar and foam…

The psalmist seems to guarantee the earth will sway beneath us. Events will cause us to tremble as we are forced to let go of things closest and dearest to us. When everything is shaken and we’ve nothing left to hold onto---we hold onto God. Therefore we will not fear…