Singing by the Stream

One of the suggestions for time on retreat in Italy was to sit beside a stream and sing, sing my heart for the love of God. I love the stream here in the valley where the sheep graze that flows into the Nestore river at the base of the hills near the highway. It is such a sweet little stream with a couple of bridges, for cars and for sheep.

I have to admit the first day I went down to the stream for pictures it was very wet, and the idea of sitting down to sing seemed very unappealing. In fact it just wasn’t going to happen. The other block I had was that all the singing I have been doing has been for the Catholic Mass and I simply don’t know those words well enough to sing on my own. It was then it hit me that I really couldn’t remember any American Hymns. I simply am not THERE, my heart is not into singing the songs of the American church right now.

I will confess to feeling a bit guilty about this, and I found myself returning to the stream every day as part of my spiritual practice and daily walk. I would still be going there daily and will return to that practice in a week or so, but no, I still cannot see myself sitting and singing. I do sing in evening mass, and I appreciate my newfound comprehension of the Italian words of the mass’ but no singing by the stream yet. One of my friends here confessed to not being up to go to mass because here heart was not ready to pray, and I realized this week that my heart is not yet ready to sing the songs of the church I left in Seattle. But instead I could take this idea in a different direction.

Each day when I go for my walk to the stream, I go to pray a listening prayer. I listen to the song of the stream as it flows under the bridges, through the culverts, along the meadow, the voice of the stream changes from soprano to alto like the beautiful women’s voices of Mary’s. I listen and I pray, at some point I may sing by the stream, perhaps in the summer, when the water is low and my voice is needed for a song to come forth, but for now it is the stream’s turn to sing to me, the sweet songs of our Lord.
How do you sing the Lord’s Song….How do you listen for it?