Sounds

Rolling thunder, the constant pelting of our tin roof by gravity driven pellets of rain, , a choir of multitudes upon multitude of crickets, and every unthinkable six and eight legged creature you could imagine adding it’s piece the symphony, the bullfrogs filling in the tuba section, , the chainsaw felling another tree in the nearby farm, the macaws calling their lifelong partners at dusk , the squirrel monkeys squeaking at each other telling of danger or of the tree with the best fruit, dirtbikes motoring up and down the dirt roads carving down the slopes to the coast.  These are the sounds we hear in this peaceful place.  They are much different than, the phones ringing , freeways, ipods, t.v.’s, requests of bosses or clients, kids crying, dryer buzzing, school bells, or weird noises from our cars, but still there is a different sound.  It is much easier to quiet the “louder” sounds while in this jungle paradise, but there still are the sounds of my spirit, the questions, the fears, the doubts, the wonderings, the hopes, the dreams, the memories.  These quieter sounds aren’t drowned out by the “louder” sounds here,  in fact they’re multiplied, and it is in this state that I’m convinced of the need to listen to the sound of the Spirit of Christ, less I go insane.  Though I’ve proven deaf times over, I know His promises are true, to lead me into all Truth, to be counseled by Him, and for Him to pour the love of Christ over me.  The Psalmist seems to grasp this when he says, I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child is my soul within me.  The hunger and need for food is still there, but it is no longer the anxious cry for the milk of the mother, but the solid food of the calm expectation and hope of YHWH’s provision and answer.   Much of my reading here has been about men and women of the last 150yrs and the book of Acts that have fought through the sounds without and from within to find incredible transformation in the presence and power of the Counselor.  May we too be deaf to the world, and keen to the voice of the Spirit.

Michael's second blog entry