When the Stones Cry Out

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey to shouts of “Hosannah!” some of the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Lk 19: 39-40).

We don’t typically think of stones as praising God. For example, Psalm 148 calls for everything in creation to praise God, from the sun and moon to sea monsters to snow and mist to winged fowl, but it doesn’t include stones in its litany. Today, however, I learned that there is such a thing as a lithophone, meaning “Any of various musical instruments in which sound is produced by striking pieces of stone.” An intriguing video called “Lithophones of Gobustan” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEf9cNoYd4k) shows how, in a plateau of rocky boulders in the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, stones are used to make music that sounds like chimes or bells.

The unnamed musician in this video says, “Just like the chime purifies the environment, the sound of this stone, too, purifies the environment and the human.” Perhaps the psalmists are so insistent that we praise God because they know that the sound of our praise purifies us by fostering humility and gratitude. When we acknowledge that God made us and that everything we have is a gift from God, our environment is cleansed of the noxious effects of pridefulness, egotism, smugness, vanity, and self-glorification.

When we fail to praise God, other elements of nature will step in to fill the void, even seemingly silent stones. Instead of seeking to dominate nature, we should seek to follow its example by glorifying God with our very being, thus fostering a healthy environment where all things God made can flourish.