Humans and birds aren't the only creatures that sing. Whales sing too. In fact, the songs of humpback whales are some of the most complex arrangements in the animal kingdom. Their ditties consist of vast roars, deep bellows, and groans interspersed with interesting sighs, chirps, whistles, and squawks.Their songs range from five to 30 minutes long.

Once a whale is done singing, it will surface to take a breath, then descend to about 50 feet, where it holds its position with its head down and then repeats the song verbatim, again and again, sometimes for hours on end.

As far as we know, only the males sing, and humpbacks in the same region of the ocean sing the same song. Each year, their songs change somewhat, as though they are experimenting with different arrangements.

The song of the humpback reaches sound levels up to 180 decibels — that's louder than a rocket blasting off! And researchers believe that some of these low-frequency sounds can travel more than 3,000 miles!

Jeff Henderson, in his book Know What You’re For, tells a story of when he received such a gift; a surprise.

He was driving around town with a billionaire. He had never driven around a billionaire before. He found himself driving slower, more cautiously. Hands at ten and two. Eyes on the road.

His passenger was Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, the inventor of the famed chicken sandwich, and at that time, Henderson’s boss’ boss. He was driving Mr. Cathy to a speaking engagement in a white Ford with cow spots on it. As others passed the only cow-spotted car driving down the road, they gave them a wave or a smile.

The gift — the surprise — was the conversation he and Mr. Cathay enjoyed. Henderson was surprised that Mr. Cathy conversed with him at all, much less having many questions to ask him.

Once Cathy started talking, Henderson expected he would discuss sales or chicken. But instead he took a great interest in Henderson. He asked about his wife, his children, his parents. Then, they discussed parenting and how to be great husbands. They didn't talk about sales goals or chicken sandwiches. Instead, they talked about things of permanence. 

Henderson drove slower, wanting to relish the moment.

These are moments — gifts — we may not recognize at the time. Moments that take their time. They quietly make their way through the crowded thoughts, experiences, and memories in our brain, and before we know it, they’re standing beside us.

At some point, we turn and recognize how these moments became a memory and how it has been shaping us the whole time.

The car ride and conversation with Truett Cathy was one such moment for Jeff Henderson. A seed was planted as Henderson realized Truett Cathy was "for" him. He was more interested in what he could do for Henderson than what Henderson could do for him.

In a video made for Our Daily Bread, Nicole Mullen shares the following devotional.*

You may have heard of the metaphor of looking at an issue from all angels. I think of it like this:

You know, if there were four of us and we were looking at an elephant, all from the front, our description of him would, or could, be similar.  You know, though one might describe, you know, his trunk, another his tusks, somebody else his legs, someone else his eyes, but for the most part we would be describing the front of him and we could all attest to the others' narrative, because we have witnessed the same sight. 

Now, if the four of us were to spread out and I stood behind him, you stayed in front, and the other two on the sides of him, then our descriptions would change according to what we've seen and experienced. We would be describing different parts of the same elephant.
 
Now, I have to be careful not to discredit my neighbor's description, because they had not seen the creature from my vantage point. But if i choose to lean in and learn from their experience, then my view of the elephant grows and so does my knowledge and my wisdom.

*Click here to link to the full video.