In the crossfire of praise

So here's an extraordinary experience from last evening. I'm sitting in my church sanctuary, listening to the Robert Dale Chorale sing a pleasant program of music. The sanctuary windows are open, and sounds from the outside world could be overheard.

At one point, as the choir sings Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus," two cardinals are right outside the window singing a song in the same key. It was a brief, beautiful moment of antiphonal music, perhaps even a echoed prayer.

Two psalms primed me to hear it. Psalm 104 is a creation psalm, where God is blessed for making the whole world. Psalm 148 is a doxology, where heaven and earth sing to one another, with praises starting in the heights of the sky and echoing from the land and sea below. I sat in the crossfire of praise for a moment last night, and it was magnificent. In the words of a favorite hymn, "All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres."

We find ourselves caught up in a lot of other noises. As a pastor, I hear a lot of complaints, to say nothing of the "shoulds" and "oughts" of criticism. I wish we could balance them with the praises of God. But for now, last evening's moment will have to suffice.