Morning Praise

I woke up the other morning at a campground in north Georgia. The sun had cleared away the darkness enough that I could tell the difference between the trees outside and a bear finishing up a morning stroll.  So, I went outside and found a chair under the canopy of trees where I could be in the middle of a great choir singing morning praise to the Creator.  I hear the early morning music of the winged choristers back at home, but this morning’s choral offering seemed as if it were being sung especially for me.   

It had the feeling of a gift from the Creator God.  If the hills are alive with the sound of music as the song proclaims, then surely these towering trees shooting straight up toward heaven were alive as well with a music that glorified God.  Sitting out there for a few moments somehow made me a part of that praise.  And while I did not raise my voice in praise along with these other creatures of the Creator, it was only because what I might offer would surely spoil the perfection of the praise all around me.   

It is good to have an early morning moment of being in the presence of the Holy One when my mouth is not pleading for some blessing, or wasting His time and mine reminding Him of what He needs to do for me today.  It is good to have a moment of sitting in the silence.  It is good to know a moment when my voice is silent and my heart seems empty of everything except the anticipation of the ever present Holy One.  As the gentle morning breeze blows across this moment filled with mortality and eternity, so may His Spirit come now into my heart and your heart as well.       l