Episode
The Trees Were Paying Attention
- Podcast
- Grace for All
- Published
- Jun 5, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 257
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Summary
Psalm 98:7-8 (The Message) "Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause, with everything living on earth joining in. Let ocean breakers call out, 'Encore!' as they join the rivers in a standing ovation for God." I play the guitar. Actually, it is more accurate to say I play at the guitar. I know enough chords to be dangerous, I can fake my way through a few fingerpicking patterns, and I've made peace with the fact that my F chord is more of an aspiration than an achievement. And bar chords? Forget about it. I love music. Playing guitar gives me somewhere to put my mind that isn't anywhere else. It's a challenge I actually enjoy. And that’s enough. Any proficiency I pick up along the way is gravy on the biscuit. One Saturday morning, I took my guitar out to the screened porch. I'd been practicing chord changes for weeks, and I thought a few minutes of that might be good. I was concentrating on my fingers when I noticed it had started to rain. Not a storm, just a soft, steady rain moving through the trees in the yard. I kept playing. And then I noticed something. My backyard is mostly trees. As the rain fell, it made a particular sound as it hit the layers of branches and leaves. As the rain intensified, the sound got louder. It sounded like applause. I stopped playing, and I listened. Then I laughed out loud. The trees were applauding. Now I know the difference between rain and applause. No confusion there. But I stood up anyway. I thought that it might be the only time I'd ever get applause for playing the guitar. I played a C-F-G chord progression. It's the set of chords that underlies half the songs ever written, the musical equivalent of a handshake. And I took a bow. "Thank you," I said. "Thank you very much." The trees kept applauding. The psalmist noticed t…