Today was rather fallish in my corner of the world. I walked Penelope in a light rain this morning and tried to sit on the porch and ponder but it was just too cool and damp. Pitiful when 61 degrees makes me cold. Guess I’m getting old. If this day was in the fall it would be wondrous but seems cold after our hot days.

I gussied up and went to the feed store to spend my Mother’s Day gift certificate. Got a huge bird feeder, bet it holds 10 pounds. It’s called an onion bird feeder. Could hardly carry it as I walked to hang it in my flower garden. And I got some pine straw. So happy and excited with my purchases. The new feeder was visited by the cardinals all afternoon. Oldest brother came by for a visit and when I told him to look over at my new feeder, Fatty, (I changed Fattina’s name back to Fatty, suits her!) was perched there gobbling down the seeds. He went over there and scared her away. Oldest brother is so funny with his detest of squirrels. I told him when he gets to Heaven God is going to put him in control of the squirrels he sent early to heaven.

I just love watching the birds on my feeders. It’s kinds like church for me as I’m perched in the swing hearing them sing and seeing them flitter around. Over 50 million Americans feed the birds and we put out a billion pounds of bird seed each year. Feeding the birds is the second most popular hobby in America.

I like to compare myself to the birds. There are birds who live in cages and birds who fly free. I’m happiest when I’m close to my cage with the security of the bars that keep me safe. We all build nests and raise our young to leave the nest and fly free. And we hope God will give our children safe wind currents to ride when they fly off on their own. Some of us enjoy flying high in the sky, riding the wind currents of Mother Nature’s breath, soaring to new heights, watching the Earth’s rotation. If we’re caged our needs are met. The courageous who soar have to find their next meal and a place to sleep. I’m just not that adventurous. Maybe I’m a homing pigeon, always returning to the safety of my cage.

Just as the birds find comfort in their nests at dusk, God comforts us with his love and grace. He cares for us and is a constance presence in our lives. Mathew 26:6 reads, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much valuable than they?”

God will shelter us like a mother hen does her chicks. “He will shelter you with his pinions, and under his wings you may take refuge; his faithfulness is a protecting shield,” Psalm 91:4. We associate angels with birds because angels are often depicted with beautiful luminous wings. I believe angels can appear on Earth as a songbird bringing a spiritual message to a loved one. Birds connect us so easily to the spiritual world. When I see a beautiful crimson cardinal I can feel a spiritual connection and I thank God for the blessing.

God, with the help of Mother Nature’s watercolors, has given the song birds their beautiful plumage and the freedom with their wings to soar. God can help us soar through life when we ride the wind of the Holy Spirit. He can make the impossible task possible and take the weight off our shoulders that holds us down.

“Birds were created to record everything. They were not designed just to be beautiful jewels in the sky, but to serve as the eyes of heaven.” – Suzy Kassem