I was reading an article in my regular Christian magazine this week and came across this article.
“Did you know that the Australian regent honeyeater bird needs to learn to sing again? Apparently it is on the verge of extinction which means that the few male birds that remain don’t have contact with older males from whom they can learn to sing their distinctive song. This means they can’t attract a mate and so their species is in decline. Conservationists are helping by playing recordings of this distinctive song to the birds in the hope they will learn to imitate it and as they rediscover their song, they will flourish again.”
I wonder if some of us need to learn to sing again. We have been worn down by a global pandemic with so many heart-breaking losses and restrictions on daily life when we couldn’t visit loved ones and could only meet our Church friends on Zoom or streamed services. Who knew anything about Zoom, FaceTime etc? but they were all lifelines for many of us. With the decline in numbers of church attendance across the country we can be discouraged but the article suggests perhaps it is time we learn to sing again. It’s said that Methodism was born in song and Charles Wesley in particular was prolific in writing hymns for the early Church which we still sing today. I believe I’m right in saying that sometimes the music of popular songs were borrowed because of their appeal and Christian lyrics were added. ‘Why should the devil have all the good tunes’ and the lyrics spell out our faith and stay in our minds.
During the lockdown I couldn’t meet anyone in person for almost six months as I was clinically extremely vulnerable and after that only at a distance for quite a while. I had plenty of time to think about my relationship with God and where He was in all the confusion, loneliness, anxiety and concern about the future which many people felt. Christian songs have always been very precious to me and I came across some which were written during this time as well as others which I hadn’t yet discovered. They became a life saver as I could hear God’s voice speaking through them and they brought comfort and a new understanding of our amazing and faithful God. This is one of those songs which include these words
You’re the light
You’re my path
You’re the shepherd of my soul
All I am
All I have
Holy Spirit, lead me on
I had never thought of the Lord as the shepherd and keeper of my soul and those words have stuck with me and will remain there. I am enthused to carry on singing those songs which speak to my heart and along the way maybe others will hear the songs and be captivated again by the incredible love of God as seen so clearly in and through the Lord Jesus.
1 Peter 2:25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.
Prayer : Thank you Lord, that throughout all the turmoil of our world today and of our lives you continue to be the shepherd and guardian of our souls. Thank you that we can learn from the words of our forefathers and build our faith by also listening to our modern hymn writers who are inspired by your Holy Spirit. Remind us to keep singing songs of faith. Amen