All God's Creatures Have A Place In The Choir....

Hello from another beautiful night in Belize,

Throughout our journey so far, I have noticed many, many differences between the culture here and the culture back home. Some differences are more obvious like the infrastructure of the country, the water sources, or the general climate. Other differences are little harder to detect. 

One example is the way the people of Belize express their faith and love for God with one another and with us. They generally tend to be more open and vocal with their love for God. For example, if you were to pray with them they will not simply bow their heads and listen, they will rejoice and exclaim their love while someone prays aloud. What a joyous express of their faith, that they feel so strongly about God that they must exclaim it to the world.

The differences in the way we praise God brings to mind an old children's song I once knew. Perhaps you know it as well?

"All God's creatures have a place in the choir,
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire,
And some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got now."

This silly little song has been stuck in my head for days now, and it only just occurred to me that God was trying to send me a message. Better late than never, right God? Though the message may have taken me a while to hear, the interpretation is clear.

The point of this song is that not all of God's children are the same or worships in the same way. There are many different creatures in the world, just as there are many different cultures in the world and many different people within those cultures. It makes sense that we all don't worship or exclaim our faith in the same way.

Some of us may be very open and upfront about our faith. We may speak confidently about Jesus to a great crowd of people, much like those creatures singing on the telephone wire for all to hear. However, there are also many of us who have the patience and determination to sit back and witness to those who are not at the forefront. We are drawn to actions more than verbal witnessing. We show the love of Jesus through our physical actions, much like those creatures who sit back and clap with whatever they have.

Whether we are the singers in the front or the clappers in the back, God loves all his creatures equally. He still hears our praise whether it's verbal or from our actions. The point is that we are worshiping and proclaiming our faith together. We do not need to all be the same or worship the same way. How boring would that be? 

Instead we should accept one another, love one another, and build one another up in faith. A choir is made up of many unique voices, just like the kingdom of Heaven is made up of many unique souls. It's time we embrace those differences.

I'll check back soon.

Bye for now.