Sing.

I listened to a sound clip today that documents

the moment that the guns stopped

shooting at the end of WWI.

The first minute is so loud.

I can’t imagine being there and

constantly hearing the artillery.

I can’t really imagine the

constant noise,

the cost,

the heartache,

the loss

the pain.

What would it be like to hear that

or to be in a place where there’s war?

Listen to the clip here, before you read the rest of this.

The clip captures one minute before the war ended:

the Deafening Noise.

And one minute after the war ended:

The Silence.

and then…

Birds Chirping.

Birds Singing.

Who knew the power of a bird’s song?

Here’s my question.

Did the birds always sing?

Were they singing during the war?

Did they sing amidst gunfire?

I found this from Where Poppies Blow: The British Soldier, Nature, The Great War

by John Lewis-Stempel

The sun as it rose was invisible behind the bank of smoke, but it flushed the sky above with red. It was truly a terribly dawn, most beautiful in its terror, and if ever dawn did indeed come up like thunder, it was this. Then came the greatest miracle of all, for with the rose-flush in the sky the whole bird-chorus of morning came to life. Never, surely, did birds sing so – Blackbird and Thrush, Lark and Black-cap and Willow Warbler. Most of the time their voices, of course, were inaudible, but now and again in the intervals of the shattering noise of the guns their notes pealed up, as if each bird were struck with frenzy and were striving to shout down the guns.

– Journalist H. Perry Robinson

I also found an article from 1992 that talked about the nightingales

singing in Sarajevo as artillery pounded the region.

So they do still sing –

in war – the birds still sing.

In a world where war exists – whether across the world

or in your own town –

your song is needed.

There are wars today that require your voice be raised

for those who don’t have one.

And we need to raise our voices to join the chorus of

equality,

restoration,

justice.

Amplify the song by adding your voice.

Join the swell of voices singing about

what is true, noble, right, pure,

lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy.

Your voice matters –

especially when war, fighting, and injustice

seem deafening…

Sing.