I’ve been sitting in my purple yard chair watching all the birds happily flittering around, singing their thankful songs for the beautiful winter day and feeders full of fresh sunflower seeds. The wind chimes were adding their bell sounding pings to the yard symphony. Penelope and Kat were soaking up the warm sunshine sitting near my feet. I immediately thought of a quote I read last night about birds. “No matter what yesterday was like, birds always start the new day with a song.” I love this.

What a wonderful way to look at life. We can have a new day each day. We can start afresh when the sun rises on tomorrow. The past is behind us, today is upon us, and no need to worry about tomorrow. I’ve written this a thousand times, we’re not promised tomorrow. We’re never know what’s going to happen so we should live each day as a gift from God.

We need to learn to live our lives day by day. We need to focus on the positive things and not get frustrated by things we can’t control. Burdens that drag us down can be placed on God’s shoulders through our prayers, bringing us peace. If we live one day at a time we focus on our present moments not worrying about the future, not dwelling on the past. Obviously in our modern world we do have to plan for the future but we need to focus on what we can control in the present.

We are like the birds in many ways. We love the freedom of being alive in this blue sky world. We find a partner, build our nests, raise our young, set them free. Some of us fly alone just as happily as those that flock and fly together. I love the quote, “l know why the caged bird sings,” by Maya Angelou. Birds are either flying free or caged. When we fly by God’s wings we are flying with hope and purpose. When we’re caged we sing without the light of God’s love, a lonesome song without hope of a better tomorrow, a song longing for the freedom that comes from a loving God.

God has been depicted as a bird in biblical scripture. Doves represent peace and new beginnings, symbols of purity, grace, and gentleness. In Luke 3:21-22 the scripture reads, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.” We read in Matthew that “the Spirit of God descended like a dove and came to rest on him.”

I have a genuine love of God’s wondrous little song birds. I know I spend too much money feeding them and too much time sitting in the swing watching them but I feel I’m in God’s cathedral with the birds. I know God sends me the birds to cheer me and give me peace. I feel his grace in the bird’s presence.

I think this feeling goes back to the day after my daughter‘s death. I woke up to a bright blue sky on a beautiful sunny day. I was looking out the back door, thinking how dare the world be so beautiful when my daughter was dead. Suddenly this fat little bird landed on the old wrought iron coat rack on the back porch, looking me straight in the face with her little black eyes. I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that little bird was Rosalyn, telling me she was fine and all was right in her little heavenly world.

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” — Langston Hughes