“Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you people from far away!” Isaiah 49:1-7
“And he has put a new song in my mouth..” Psalm 40:3a
During my adolescent years we lived by the West Tamar riverbank in Northern Tasmania. A tidal river, the bank at low tide stretched for a hundred metres or so. Walking on the dark grey mud with each step potentially sinking up to mid-calf required adequate footwear if you didn’t want to shred your feet from oyster shells hiding below the surface.
I’d wander/squelch through the tidal flats, smell the mud-tinged brine in the air, listen to circling seagulls and feel the wind, and work out whether I could get to the larger of the two small islands and back before the incoming tide surrounded them.
And I’d sing as I looked out over this coastland – my coastland.
Not a recognisable song – just a rambling narrative set to a rambling made-up melody. As it was just us Clark girls on that stretch of the river I felt no embarrassment, but just let it rip. Whatever was going through my mind at the time; pre-teen angst, family issues, whatever - they were worked out as I sang to my ‘coastlands’ at the top of my voice.
Walking one morning this week we came upon a young boy on the path with his mother. They were stopped to one side as he did up his laces. And he was chatting non-stop to his mum all the while with his head bent to his task. As we passed I mimicked the chatter with one hand to the mother with a big smile on my face. She nodded her head, as if to say ‘yeah, it’s great, isn’t it!’
Now neither my younger self or the chatting boy, as we voiced out loud our particular stream of consciousness, would qualify as prophets-in-waiting like the great Isaiah from our Old Testament reading this week,. The birds in the air in my case and the mother for the young boy were the only obvious recipients of the river of our thoughts in words/sounds.
But, oh what might happen if we who follow Christ, sang/spoke with the same child-like assurance and volubility to the One who is always listening? Our grief, our frustrations, our joys, our anger, our questions, our love, our thankfulness – everything that we are. And what joy might be felt when Christ calls and sings back to us!
In this season of Epiphany, may you be blessed with the presence of the One who always listens, and is always calling us to share the joy of this presence – God is with us – Emmanuel!
Peace
Ceri
