Beware of things that go BANG!!! in the night. Chances are, they’re gonna cost you.
That’s true if you’re a homeowner, at any rate. I speak from personal (which is to say, “annoying”) experience. Twice in the past month or so, we been roused from bed by loud, metallic sounds…near enough, and noisy enough, to elevate the heart-rate and prompt further investigation.
Sounds like vandalism…and vengeance.
The first occurrence turned out to be a bit of mean-spirited vandalism. Teens (staggering from a graduation party just down the street) decided to rip our mailbox from its post—destroying a wrought-iron platform in the process. And the BANG we heard? Our otherwise perfectly serviceable mailbox, clattering along the concrete pavement.
The second incident took place Wednesday night – not long after we returned home from our community’s 4th of July fireworks display. This BANG sounded menacing enough that we rushed to the bedroom window to check the mailbox, half-expecting to find evidence of a repeat attack. Thankfully, it remained intact…but the source of the BANG remained a mystery…
…until the next morning, when I punched the button to raise the garage door. The motor hummed, the door lurched upward – then stopped in its tracks, barely a foot above the floor. Aha! Mystery solved: One of the door’s torsion springs had failed in spectacular fashion…releasing a soundwave corresponding to its functional misery.
Broken, yes, but not disheartening.
Perhaps worthy of note, both BANGS produced a similar level of frustration on the “homeowner” scale: Each imposed hundreds-of-dollars of unexpected costs on the household budget. Each induced a bit of head-scratching, too: How exactly do we go about getting this fixed? And how soon can we be back-in-business?
While all of this is true, I noticed that I reacted far differently to the first incident than to the second: The mailbox vandalism touched off a bit of a hissy fit: “How DARE they destroy my property…for fun?” Even today, several weeks later, I’m still a little steamed about the whole affair.
But as for the busted spring? I allowed my annoyance to dissipate quickly – and just went about the business of getting our garage door repaired.
It could be that my “mailbox outrage” is justified on some level. I notice, though, that my desire for vengeance didn’t really make me feel any better—nor did it contribute to a solution.
So where is the voice of God hidden in all this noise? Perhaps Psalm 85 provides a clue:
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Peace can be God’s gift to us…in all manner of circumstances, amidst any sort of unsettling noise. But our ears have to be tuned in, and our hearts abiding with trust in the Lord. That (and not my misguided desire for vengeance) is the starting point for realizing God’s promise:
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Wisdom from Psalm 85: “Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.”
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 
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