I was walking down a street when I heard a tinkling sound. I knew immediately what it was: finger cymbals. I knew what I would soon see: a Hare Krishna devote. And there he was complete with saffron robe. Funny how a sound can evoke an experience.

If you hear an organ, you might picture a church, probably mainline Protestant or Roman Catholic. If it’s a Hammond B6 electronic organ, it may be a Pentecostal or Assemblies of God church.

Vocal sounds evoke experiences. What do you see when you hear Silent Night? Then there was the time when I heard the little children  joining in the Lord’s prayer that they had just learned in Sunday School. I can see them standing at the back of the church.

The Bible is filled with references to sound. Psalm 150 mentions seven musical instruments. Many passages talk about singing and even more about speaking. There’s the oddity that the Hebrew word for voice kol also means thunder so that as God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the people understood the thunder to be God speaking to them. Then there are the really strange ones. On Pentecost the Spirit descended with “a sound like the rush of a violent wind.” And my all time favorite, Elijah hiding in a cave. He experiences the “a sound of sheer silence.” I wonder what that was like?

Churches give a lot of emphasis to one sound, someone talking, but the experience of God seems to embrace a whole lot more. What sounds help you experience God?

Read Psalm 66:8 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne