The Loudest Song

 “O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth” (Psalm 96:1, NRSV.) 

There’s a song happening all around us, but none of us know the words. It starts out quiet enough in the morning, and it tapers off in the dusk. When the sun is at its highest, the song is the loudest. I am not talking about the popular music played on the radio, the sacred hymns sung in church, or the ubiquitous Muzak filling the air in offices, elevators, and phone trees. This song emerged a few weeks ago, and, according to experts, it will be with us most of June. I speak, of course, about the beautiful sound of our cicada guests. 

I know most of you are praying for the day when you can make your way from the front porch to the car without being divebombed by the insect armada. They are everywhere, and they have no regard for personal space or the basic decorum of a civilized society. 

The only one in our family who likes them is our dog, Knox, and we are doing our best to keep him inside. If you cannot see them, you can certainly hear them. Most people describe the irritating noise as an incessant scream, but it’s actually the male variety singing out a mating song. It’s loud, it’s annoying, and it’s everywhere. I think there’s something more there. 

There is something beautiful about a creature crawling up from the darkness into the light. There’s a hopeful message in the shedding off of the exuvia (yes, I had to look it up) and the emergence as a new creation. I suggest there is unique beauty in the cacophonic symphony happening all around us right now. I’m not prepared to call this the gospel according to the cicadas, but I think there is a lesson for all of us here. Theirs might not be the longest song, but it’s the loudest. 

The author John Berger writes, “Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems they wanted to.” 

All of us are given a certain number of days. What are we going to do with them? We can be silent, we can scream, or we can sing. In the white noise of our world, there is a new song all around us. With everything God has done, how can we keep from singing?

 In Hope and Confidence, Pastor Dave