why whistling?

I've been asked by someone smart and perceptive why I'm whistling (yes shelaine, i'm talking about you). A quick search on Google will lead you past a song by the group 'They Might be Giants', past an online game, and a 1941 black and white movie among others to a book by Frederick Buechner called 'Whistling in the Dark', which is where I get the title from (is that plagiarism? Intended to be a tribute of sorts...).



Frederick Buechner is one of my most treasured authors. His humour, sincerity and insight have guided me through both mundane and challenging times in the past two years. 'Whistling in the Dark - A Doubter's Dictionary' is a collection of everyday words with, in the Buechner way, an injection of insight and mystery. He describes faith as 'a kind of whistling in the dark', which was a pertinent analogy for me, at least certainly for my faith.

Whistling in the dark to me is about enjoying, appreciating, and living in the mystery of 'I AM'. Perhaps it's about creating music amidst the questions and uncertainty; and further to that, it's about seeing the grace and beauty in the uncertainty - not because I am denying an apparent disaster, but because what lies ahead is not mine to worry about.

So, in Buechner's words:

I think of faith as a kind of whistling in the dark because, in much the same way, it helps to give us courage and to hold the shadows at bay. To whistle in the dark isn't to pretend that the dark doesn't sometimes scare the living daylights out of us. Instead, I think, it's to demonstrate, if only to ourselves, that not even the dark can quite overcome our trust in the ultimate triumph of the Living Light. Hence the title.

Angela Trivia: I learned how to whistle only a few years ago. I was so intent on learning that as I was practising I apparently annoyed those around me because I had distracted them during a church Christmas celebration. My whistling is flat and in no way musical so clearly all this remains a metaphor.