His Answer Comes

When Brother Bruno was at prayer one night he was dis- turbed by the croaking of a bullfrog. All his attempts to disre- gard the sound were unsuccessful, so he shouted from his window, “Quiet! ’’m at my prayers.” Now Brother Bruno was a saint, so his command was instant- ly obeyed. Every living creature held its voice so as to create a silence that would be favorable to prayer.

But now another sound intruded on Bruno’s worship—an inner voice that said, “Maybe God is as pleased with the croaking of that frog as with the chanting of your Psalms.” “What can please the ears of God in the croak of a frog?” Bruno asked. But the voice refused to give up: “Why would you think God invented that sound?”

Bruno decided to find out “Why?” He leaned out of his win- dow and gave the order, “Sing!” The bullfrog’s measured croaking filled the air to the ludicrous accompaniment of all the frogs in the vicinity. And as Bruno listened to the sound, their voices ceased to jar for he discovered that, if he stopped resisting them, they actually enriched the silence of the night.