Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-05-12
God in Sound.
The voice of my beloved. -Cantic'es III: 8.

The voice of my beloved. : Canticles III: 8.
Every sound we hear is, in a certain
sense, the voice Of God. 1t is the waving
of His hand that produces the undula-
tions of the air; it is this that produces
the tympauum, that delicate scructure OF
the omnipotent artifcer, and this again
communicates motion to the auditory
nerve, motion so slight that a micro
scope could not detect it, and yet suseep-
tible in all its minuteness, of millions of
variations; this again produces an i'm
preston on the brain, that soft and
pulpy mass of seemingly insensate. mat
ter, through which knife may be run
without giving pain, and which yet re-
spends with the quickness of tn ought,
and with the accuracy of machinery, to
the delicate impression of the nerves of
sense; and this semi-organic and jelly
like mass, in a manner utterly inconceiv-
able to us, by certain mechanical changes
in its own form, communicates with the
soul, and produces thought and feeling
in the invisible and immaculate part of
man. The brain being in certain forms
or shapes, the soul hears magnificent
anthem; when it is in certain other
shapes the soul hears the screeching Of
an owl or the filing of saw; and yet
the difference in these shapes is probably
30 small as to be wholly invisible, even
if the action of the brain was exposed to
microscopic scrutiny. What infinite
wisdom and skill was that which created
us with these subjective susceptibilities,
and adjusted to them the varied condi-
tons of the outer world What a cen
ception it was in the first, to put spirit
and matter en- rapport To whom but
the Almighty would such concep-
ton ever have occurred The very ideal,
without execution, is nothing less than
divine, but when we realize that execu-
ton in the co-opera.ion of soul and body
in our own persons, we can but feel that
God is all and in all
Every sound we hear is the result of
cause put in operation and kept in
operation, and endowed with the power
of producing a certain effect, and no
other, by an ever present and all-con-
trolling God. The air undulates no
more nor less than He would have it;
the tympanum vibrates not otherwise
than as He wills the nerve. in its mi
nutest quiver, moves only as He moves
it; the brain is impressed not otherwise
than as He impresses it; the thought and
feeling which result are none other than
such as He produces; in other words,
our hearing is the result of divine action
every sound is heard only as the result
of divine contrivance that we shall
hear and consequently in each act of
hearing we are operated upon by that
divine power The power and the pres
ence of God being thus inseparable from
each act of hearing poetry, philosophy
and religion, each suggest that every
sound we hear is, in a certain sense at
least, the voice of God.
God is our father and our friend, our
creator, preserver, benefactor and savior.
Whom have we in heaven but him-what
is there upon earth that we should desire
besides Hm2 He is the author of life
and the fountain of all fullnes, the God
of all comfort, the sonrce Of all JOY. He
is not an abstraction nor an impersonal
but living. being, person
with thoughts and feelings just like ours,
except that they are infinite in purity
and power; He is the God whose fore
sight and ever active benevolence supply |
our wants; He is the God and father Of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Oh,
how supremely lovely, how infinitely ex-
cellentl
We are in constant communication with
Him. In every waking moment we hear
His voice. The zephyr that dallies with
the foliage is His whisper; the blast of
the hurricane is His louder voice; the
thunder is His speech; the brook muir
murs only as He would have it; the noise
Of the mountain torrent is only His ut
terance the air and the sea would lie for
ever in the stiffness of death if not put in |
by the ever present God, and |
the roar Of the ocean, is, therefore, but |
one of His tokens the twittering of the |
swallow is only another of His manifes-
Iations the sparrow learn sits single song
from Him and performs its little air only |
as His instrument; the mocking bird, |
With its grotesque and original combina-
lions, deiNng the rules Of art, is only |
a medium of communicating divine mu-
sic; the lowing of the kline, the hum of
The bee on its hurried fight, and all the |
myriad voices Of animated nature are |
but the outspeakings of Him who made |
and keeps His creatures animate; the /
iinkling Of the lonely bell in the forest |
US that we are not alone, for God |
Is there-without Him we should be deaf
and nature dumb in the solemn tones ]
from the steeple that summon us TO the |
gates of Zion, il is God who calls us
here; the deep music of the organ is
His; il is His voice that we hear in the
songs Of the saints; it is He who glad
iens us By the pratile Of the little ones
at home; the kindly tones Of friendship
are his tones; the very ticking Of the
clock is His outspoken testimony Of the