The Song in the Night

A few mornings ago, when I awoke at 4 AM from an odd dream that slightly unsettled me, I heard the soft, velvet hooting of one of our local great horned owls. It was answered by the low, velvety hooting of the other local great horned owl. I knew, from the sound, that this one owl was in our yard, possibly in one of the tall trees that hug the fence that separates our property from our southside neighbor. And, in that moment, I thanked God for the owl. 

It also reminded me of something that had happened when I was a tweener, young enough to be scared by bad dreams but not yet old enough to shake myself out of that fright. The bad dream I had this one early spring morning when I was 11 or 12 was tougher to shake. And being that age I felt that I was too old to be running to my parent's bed to take shelter in my mom's loving arms. After all, I was almost a teenager. I was a big boy. I shouldn't be frightened by dreams anymore. 

But I was. And in the darkness of that pre-dawn morning, I prayed to God to take away that fear. I prayed that He would do something to help me, because I was scared. 

And then the mockingbird sang. 

Not too long before having this bad dream I had read "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", the third book in C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia"*. There is a scene in there where the Dawn Treader comes upon a mysterious island which is enshrouded in dark clouds. As the Dawn Treader continues to sail deeper into the darkness the crew rescues a half-crazed man from the water, who tells them that the island is one where dreams come true. Immediately the crew starts to think of various dreams they've had - daydreams such as one sailor's desire to someday marry the woman he loves. This reverie is interrupted by the just-rescued half-crazed man, who tells them it's not DAYDREAMS that come true, but dreams, in all their horror. The joy among the crew changes to fear, and they quickly attempt to reverse course to return to the light. The half-crazed man taunts them, telling them they'll never escape, and that soon, they too will be like him. Lucy, the innocent protagonist, seeks out Aslan, the Great Lion, to rescue them. And then, in the thick darkness, a glowing, white albatross appears, and begins to lead them out of the darkness and into the safety of the light. 

So, in that darkness of that spring morning many years ago, that singing mockingbird was my albatross, assuring me that there was no need to fear. I was sure that God had sent that mockingbird just as Aslan had sent (or become) the glowing albatross. I will always cherish that mockingbird's song as the Song in the Night that sang for me, just as I welcomed the songs of the owls recently. For God sings in so many different voices. And in those songs He often brings solace and comfort, and peace. 

Soli Deo Gloria.  

*For clarification, if you purchase the set of "Chronicles..." today, they are arranged in chronological order of the stories, not in the order that they were written and published. The set of books I had - and still have - were arranged in the order in which they were published.