The Trees Were Clapping

Mitch McVicker has a song on his first CD entitled “Gospel Rain.” In one of the verses of that song, Mitch sings:

And every leaf that falls is a kind of burning bush
And I can hear your call when I stop to look
You tell me you’re there whatever happens
And I hear the trees clapping their hands

The last line of that verse has been stuck in my head for over a week now. Labor Day this year was a time of rest for my family. No ball games. No lawn mower. No nagging feeling that we had to be “doing” something. Instead, we piled in the truck and made the short trip to Spring Mill State Park for a late picnic lunch. That I wasn’t screaming at everyone to “LET’S GO!” was in itself a testimony to this day, and the day just seemed to unfold right on schedule.

I took the time to read on a blanket in the shade, which quickly turned into a wonderful nap. And it was good to just “be.” I wasn’t mad at myself for “wasting time.” I didn’t kick myself for not journaling. I slept. Straight up. No guilt.

Before we ate dinner, everyone seemed to congregate on my blanket, and we talked, looked at clouds, watched a few leaves fall, and spent time together. It became more than just being in the same place together, it became an experience of oneness, truly being “together.”

As hunger began to set in (something to be feared with my family), talk turned to food. I love to grill out with charcoal, and though I don’t use it much, on this day I fired up a pile of Kingsford, in preparation of BBQ pork tenderloins. It was awesome, but we lacked one traditional picnic item – fried chicken.

Now there was a family about 30 feet from us, and they had that fried yard bird that Jacob and I craved. As that family finished eating and went on a hike to the old cemetery, we half-jokingly talked of making a daylight raid and snatching their bucket of Colonel’s Magic. Our laughing turned to talk about how people seem to trust each other a little more when they are outdoors at a park or campground. These folks walked away from 3 picnic tables full of food, dishes, and lawn chairs – the works – and probably never thought for a minute about someone taking anything. We remembered our past campouts, when we would leave coolers, lanterns, and tents – everything – at our site as we went swimming at the park lake. And it was always there when we got back. It seems that people can be good, despite what the evening news would have us believe.

So, as we’re finishing up our meal, our talk about the goodness of people grew deeper, as it was suggested that maybe it seems like people are good at parks because they are surrounded by God’s creation, and He in fact lays heavy over those places. Mitch’s song came back to me at that moment, and all I could think of was that sound that I’d been imagining I was hearing – “And I hear the trees clapping their hands!”

The rest of the week I spent a lot of time wondering about people, and how if being surrounded by God’s presence in Nature did in fact spur people on to new levels of goodness, then maybe if people were surrounded by God’s presence in and through the lives of those who are living joyfully for Him, our world could be a better place. Jesus told us that when two or more come together in his name, he would be with them. How cool is it to really consider that we, when sharing Jesus in community, can bring out goodness in people just by radiating God to them. Somehow, that sounds a lot like worship to me.

In closing, I wanted to share a passage that Mitch pointed me to, in hopes of it speaking to your heart as well:

Get out the message – God Rules!
He put the world on a firm foundation;
He treats everyone fair and square.

Let’s hear it from Sky,
With Earth joining in,
And a huge round of applause from Sea.

Let Wilderness turn cartwheels,
Animals, come dance,
Put every tree of the forest in the choir –

An extravaganza before God as he comes,
As he comes to set everything right on earth,
Set everything right, treat everyone fair.

~ Psalm 96: 10-13 (The Message)

Here’s to singing praise with the trees! May everything be made right in Him.

Peace.