FILTERING OUT THE NOISE

Friends from Exeter visited us yesterday and shared from their experiences of traveling the length and breadth of Scotland.

One evening a poster in a village in the north caught their eye: “Bagpipes and Dancing Tonight at 7:00”, and they decided a free bit of wee local custom and culture was too important an event to pass up, so they joined in and were so captivated by the fellowship and spirit of the evening that they sought out what was an offer the following night. AND ach yes, there was a large poster in the village hall announcing that a bagpipe competition was to be held the following night among the county’s many teen pipers. They were the first in place and I was told that they were surprised in witnessing the judges having their hands over their ears. It brought to mind my wife’s humorous definition of a Scottish gentleman; ‘Someone who can play the bagpipes, but doesn’t’!

I must admit that an accomplished piper accompanied by a drummer can move me from mild despair to a toe tapping mood in a matter of seconds, however, I’m not sure I would like to have one playing through my dinner each evening, although they certainly have earned their place in Scottish culture. I look forward to witnessing the grandeur and pageantry of the Edinburgh Tattoo! And who can forget the touch of the divine as the lone piper moved across the golf green and faded in the mist as a final farewell and tribute to Payne Stewart ?

David McLaughlin himself a Scot shared “Inflated bagpipes naturally make a steady droning noise. The actual music is played over and above that. By covering their ears the judges shut out some of the low pitched noise whilst still hearing the higher pitched melody.

Low-level noise surrounds us wherever we go, whether it is the rumble of traffic or the incessant inane chatter coming from the television. But a lot of it comes out of our mouths. Imagine every word you spoke in a day laid out for a judge to examine by standards of usefulness and kindness. How many of them would be deemed offensive or simply unnecessary noise? If we thought about it, we could put those words to a much better use. We could be helpful, kind, encouraging, and even inspirational.

One of the downsides of omnipresence for God must surely be that He is around to hear every trivial, obnoxious, thoughtless word we let spill from our mouths. Let’s make sure He doesn’t feel like covering His ears when we open our pipes.

Anyone have two spare tickets to next year’s Tattoo and kilts in SA tartan to loan out for a wee fee??