A Place in the Choir

In kindergarten, my favorite song was called “All God’s Critters” and the lyrics went something like this:

“All God’s critters got a place in the choir,

Some sing low, some sing higher,

Some sing aloud on the telephone wire,

And some just clap their hands, or paws, or whatever they’ve got! Yeah!”

When you get to that last line, you clap your hands in sync with each syllable. Then at the end, you don’t just say “yeah”, you gotta shout it out, or it’ll ruin the whole song. Actually, I think I used to shout not just the “yeah”, but the whole song. I probably drove my parents nuts.

Anyway, I was recently reminded of this song as I was taking a walk and listening to the birds sing all around me. I love to just be quiet and listen to the sounds of nature. It’s a thrilling thing, in my opinion, to allow oneself to get caught up in the natural chorus of praise that shouts out God’s name all around us every day. I sometimes feel sorry for the people who don’t notice it, or even are somehow annoyed by it.

It also makes me wonder how anyone could not believe in God. How could all of this come into existence simply by chance? And how could one deny the existence of the One that it so clearly points to, so clearly glorifies, so clearly magnifies? It blows my mind.

Wanna know what else blows my mind? Crickets. No, seriously, crickets. Listen to this:

Stop trying to read ahead! Hit the “play” button now before reading any further. (Or, if the video doesn't work for you, try this link: http://www.christopherhopper.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Crickets-Soundtrack.mp3)

In case you didn’t get what that was, there are two tracks playing on top of each other. One is a recording of crickets at normal speed, the other is a recording of crickets slowed down to the lifetime equivalency of a human, as crickets have a very short lifetime. There are no voices or instruments added. It’s just the two tracks of crickets.

Pretty crazy, huh? Kinda gives me chills.

Jesus once said that if His worshippers were to be silent, the rocks would cry out. I think he meant it. Literally.

See, I believe that we were all created for a purpose, and that purpose has nothing to do with us or satisfying our wants or fulfilling our dreams. We were created to glorify God, worship God, love God. And I believe that in this only is where we will truly find fulfillment.

Of course, this may not look the same for one person as it does another, because God created each of us to be unique.

So, all of God’s critters have a place in the choir. Where’s yours?