By James Chambless (AKA Old Hat)
Music has always been a sanctuary for my mind. A long time ago, when I was a young rookie at the fire station in our little town, I was understandably nervous when the alarm sounded. A couple of times I got so anxious that I hyperventilated. Which was doubly embarrassing. Not only could I not render aid to anyone else, someone had to render aid to me in the form of holding a paper bag over my mouth until I calmed down enough to catch my breath. Somewhere in my learning curve, I realized that one cannot hyperventilate while whistling. I whistle a lot anyway, so this became my method for controlling my breathing while under stress. The funny thing is that I came to this realization around Christmas time when the only music getting played on the radio was Christmas music. To this day, if I am nervous and busy, even on these hot summer days, you will hear me whistling “Let it snow, let snow, let it snow.” That song still keeps me calm and focused and breathing right.

As I grew into that job and spent more and more time working in the back of the ambulance, I also used music for something to focus on to block out what I had seen that I could not forget. I am pretty sure that if it had not been for Steely Dan’s music that could take my mind somewhere else, I’d have lost my mind back then. To this day, when Steely Dan comes on the radio I take a deep cleansing breath and shed some of the stress I didn’t even realize I was carrying.

Those two examples help me stay calm when I am busy or when I am purposefully trying to calm down. Neither one helps when I am worried about something important and there is nothing that I can do about the situation. There is a song that does though. It comes straight out of Proverbs. I learned it at a church camp called Mt. Lebanon when I was a boy. So naturally I learned it in the King James Version of the Bible.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

The song is just those exact words set to music. It has been a source of comfort to me for a long time now. Two weeks ago today I was humming it and whistling it and singing it as I fretted around my house.
Two weeks ago today, a young woman I love and admire had been pregnant for 40 weeks and two days and her doctor decided that was long enough and sent her to the hospital to have her baby. A normal enough thing to be nervous about in the best of situations. This was far from the best of situations. Hers has been a very high-risk pregnancy for both her and her child. The delivery was shaping up to be high-risk as well. As the clock wound on and on, and as each new problem was reported, I worried more and more. And with all of my training and with all my experience and with all the love in the world, there was just nothing for me to do. Her labor went on for two days and one very long night. For that entire time, when there was nothing I could do but pray, I sang and hummed and whistled that song over and over again.

I expect that happens to all of us sometimes. A stressful situation comes up and there is nothing that can be done. When it does, I haven’t found anything better to do than to remind myself of what Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5-6. That God is God and I am not. He can handle this situation and I cannot. God has been trustworthy over and over again. I can trust my heart to God even if I am afraid it is going to be broken again. I can trust in the Lord with all my heart and He will put my feet on the right path. When there is nothing I can do to change the situation, there is still plenty that God can do. I just need to remember to trust him with it. That little song helps me remember to do just that.

Two weeks ago today, while I was humming that song, the prettiest little baby girl was born. She and her Mommy are both doing very well. There were years where we thought there was never going to be a baby for this family. There were weeks where we feared losing this baby early. There were hours where we feared something terrible going wrong in the delivery. So, we trusted the Lord with all out hearts and we didn’t lean on what we understood. And now here we are, acknowledging that it is His love and mercy that have brought us this joy of a new and beautiful life. You can bet that I will be singing this song to her every chance I get.

[August-24-2021]