Sounds of Life by Barry Hughes

On today’s walk, I was taken, not with something I saw, but with something I heard. I had often been intrigued by the beautiful, rich tones of a large wind chime on this block as I passed by day after day, but it was often too dark to find them, either too early or too late in the day. But like Goldilocks, on this day my timing was “just right”.

As I paused and enjoyed the concert provided by the gentle breeze, I began to think of how powerful certain sounds can be in our lives. The ringing of the telephone that wakes us in the middle of the night and sends our heart into our throats with the fear that bad news is calling. The sound of a parent’s or grandparents’s voice that can calm our fears and give us hope simply by saying our name. A song that transports us to a time in our youth which will always remain, in our memories, the best of times. That special laugh of one we love that can make any and every day worth the living. The sound of a gentle rain in those “in-between” moments before the alarm sounds and the race of another day begins.

I can hear the sound of the first few notes of the old gospel hymn “Blessed Assurance”, the song my momma chose as the lullaby for her children, and my stress subsides. After all these years, I can hear the words said around the communion table and my eyes still fill with tears. I can hear the carefree laughter of children and believe that maybe the world will endure after all.

The challenge for us is to listen. The sounds are all around us. They sing on the breeze, like the music of the wind chimes. They speak from our memories in the voices of loved ones from across all the years of our stories. They beckon from our dreams.

Who knows? Perhaps, coming as a gift we cannot see, these sounds could be the very voice of God. I think I should pay more attention to the sounds of my life.

Peace.