Joy From A Caged Bird
by Sharon L. Reidenbach
“Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion”
(Psalm 9:11, NKJV).
My mother had a hard life. What little joy she
experienced came
from her children and ... her canaries. I remember
after finding the
right one we’d rush home and carefully place our
feathered prize in
its new home. Then we’d wait. And when we heard
those first trills,
rolls and warbling notes burst forth, we clapped
with joy. This tiny,
soft, yellow creature captured our hearts like a
soprano’s cadenza
does for an audience. Through this small canary,
God brought happiness
to my mother, and once again she smiled.
The melodies that renewed my mother’s spirit
are like the ones our
Lord waits to hear from us, too. The problem is
we’ve allowed our
circumstances to dictate the direction the knob
that turns up our
vocal cords to go to the “off” side. True, it’s
hard to rejoice with
unpaid bills, wayward children, an illness, or an
abusive situation.
Our futile attempts to praise God are drowned out
by life’s
disappointments. But these same problems that keep
us silent, drove my
mother to the little bird of song.
She knew the canary isn’t free to roam, living
in a gold or silver
wire cage just large enough to jump from one
narrow perch to another.
And the thin, metal structure might hang in a hot,
stuffy kitchen
where a cat roams below, waiting for the opportune
moment to snag a
tasty meal. But standing tall on its wooden perch,
not looking at the
wires or the threat below, the canary holds its
head high, raises its
feathered chest, to sing its rich, melodious
songs.
Nothing mentioned in scripture says life must
be in perfect
harmony to make a joyful noise. Nor does it say we
will ‘feel’ like
singing every step of our journey. Life is not
simple. And it can
overwhelm and confine us like a caged canary. But
the Lord isn’t
looking for an opera star. The praises sung off
‘key’ are as beautiful
as those sung in perfect pitch.
Mother learned by not focusing on life’s
humdrum circumstances,
but on the possibilities God placed around us, we
can find something
to sing about: “Finally, brethren, whatever things
are true, whatever
things are noble, whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of
good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy – mediate on
these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Gradually, like God’s little creation showed
us, by raising our
voices to Him, and concentrating on anything
praiseworthy, our burdens
will miraculously lighten and we can, “Make a
joyful shout to the
Lord; Coming before His presence with singing”
(Psalm 100: 1-2, NKJV).
And for those ‘moms,’ or ‘roll models,’ who
taught us how to sing
through the passages of life, “God, we sing Your
praises. Amen.”
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