DEC 17
Making Noise
by Leighanne Dauro

We are an unapologetically LOUD family, and we definitely make noise. Sitting at the foot of the towering tree, my family and I have played in the LCT orchestra since before there were shrubs! I never get to see the lights and the faces of the singers, though, because I sit with my back to the tree, facing the guests, so the music sort of lifts me from behind, pushing me into the world.

My husband, three children, and I have all played in the tree orchestra at one time or another. Vince sits at the back of the orchestra with his shiny silver tuba. His noise is low and throaty, a deep, rumbling sound. Adam played in the trumpet section, and his noise always sounds like a banner to me, waving high and crisp above everything else. I can always hear his noise distinctly, no matter how many others are playing. His instrumental voice is separate and unmistakable. Alisa plays the French horn. Her hand shapes the music into warm curves, and her noise is dark and lovely. Lauren played with the clarinets, and her noise is as sweet as candy, dancing on top of the music in happy patterns like sprinkled sugar. I play the flute and piccolo, but have to admit that I love the piccolo best. Its noise is like punctuation, adding italics, asterisks, and exclamation points to the musical text. We are all of us noisy.

The word noise usually carries a negative connotation. “Stop making that noise!” “What in the world is that terrible noise?” Unpleasant or undesired sounds are often characterized as “noise” and often muffled. But, life is noisy. Children and dogs and cars and television and everything else fill our ears with sound. Noise and living go together inextricably. Conversely, it is very quiet in a coffin.

Noise is the perfect counterpoint to stillness and quiet, and one cannot exist without the other. Silence is nothing in itself. It exists only in the absence of sound or noise, the white spaces in the dialogue of our lives. For this season and for this time, I hope you make some noise. Shout for joy and laugh until your belly hurts. Talk to yourself in the aisle of the grocery store, read a story or a poem out loud, or sing along with the radio. Let noise, in its infinite and fascinating variety, fill your ears and your heart this season, and may it create in you an ear that is tuned to joy.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Psalm98:4