Honker

Each morning just before the sun rises, there is an interesting sound echoing down the hall from Matthew's bedroom. A melody, some might say, joining with the morning birds and the rushing of our pool filter.

Loud blasts of trumpet sounding booms awaken every man, woman and beast . . . breaking the silence of night. Matthew, mind you, is no musician. He tried his hand at the snare drum last year, but it didn't stick. You won't find a trombone or trumpet anywhere around. So where is this noise coming from?

Following a trail of soiled Kleenex would be a good indication. My eldest son greets every morning with a few blows of his honker. And everyone whose ears it falls on knows about it.

Poor kid, he has suffered with allergies since we moved to the valley. Some seasons are worse than others. I really feel for the guy - allergies can be miserable. Often times, I and will send him to school on Claritan to try and alleviate the symptoms. For all of those allergy sufferers out there, I send my sympathy.

A little later on this morning, another kind of honker got my attention as I was dropping my little maestro off. The car in the lane next to me (which happened to be the left turn lane) was not paying attention to the green signal light. So the car behind him very gently tapped his horn. It was just enough to bring the driver back to the moment, and off they drove.

I got to thinking about car horns, and how every car on the road has one. It seemed odd to me in that moment, kind of like when you say a word over and over again until it sounds foreign. It was that same kind of thing. For a brief second, I was flabbergasted by the car horn.

Car horns - they aren't really thought of much unless we need to use them. People don't generally drive down the road, leaning on their horn. A honker of this magnitude is only used when needing to send a warning, vent frustration or to celebrate. Every driver on the road has been given the voice of a trumpet sounding blast. How he chooses to use it . . . that varies I guess.

So how will I tie all of this into a spiritual application? What about bringing in God's immovable trumpet sound into the picture? Many times in the Bible when a trumpet sounds, it indicates that something is about to happen. When a honker from heaven sounds, it is a good indication of something. Either walls are about to fall, or God's judgment is about to be carried out. And my favorite is a prophetic noise - the blast of all blasts, indicating that it's time to go home.

What do Matthew's blasts predict is going to happen? Are the walls about to fall down? (Sometimes I wonder.) Is God's judgment pending the Kleenex trail? Does it mean that time has reached its end? No . . . we haven't experienced a morning that dramatic thus far.

But what my boy's unforgettable honker does usher in - is the beauty of a brand new day.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). ~ 1 Corinthians 15:52