Been enamored by the birds today. My yard is full of cardinals and chickadees and titmice. Saw a pileated woodpecker and a turkey buzzard sharing the winter blue sky. A little flock of sparrows were scratching around the little yellow dandelions and took flight when Penelope and I walked by. Bird watching is such a peaceful, joyful hobby. If I ever feel gloomy, just a few minutes of bird watching cheers me up. Our song birds birds existed a hundred million years ago. Hard to believe that dinosaurs are birds’ cousins.

Been trying to think of why I enjoy birds. I think song birds are a gift from God. I love their symphonies in the early hours, the absolute silence of the day’s beginning when they sing their little hearts out. The hustle and bustle of the fast paced world drowns their songs out when the working day hours begin. I love to watch the flocks sway in the wind as they fly in patterns through the yards on my street. As they turn in perfect harmony and change directions, the sun highlights their beautiful plumage.

I love the large gray shadows of the turkey buzzards flying in circles up high. Their shadows drift across the street and dance on the pink brick wall. I love the little song birds loud flitting and arguing over the bird feeder perches. Love seeing all the cardinals. My heart tells me they are gifts from Chief. Watching the wood thrush bathe in the bird bath enthralls me like a child. I love my bobbing head doves with their thick pink feet. Their unsteady dances on the power lines tickle me. And the goldfinches, who always arrive on the anniversary of Rosie’s death, have comforted me with their presence. The little birds are the epitome of being free and courageous. They sit on the tiniest branches knowing when the branch sways and bends, they are safe with their wings. I feel the same way about God. He keeps me safe under his wings when life sways and bends.

I wonder how many pair of birds were in the ark with Noah and his family. They probably were subdued in their symphonies since they had no sunrise to welcome the day with song. But what wondrous songs they must have sung that first morning when the sun rose and painted that beautiful arch of heavenly watercolors across the heavens.

Scripture in Matthew 6 reads, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” If God is taking care of the little song birds he certainly is caring for us and our lives. Good takes care of all his creation and we’re all valued and cherished by him.

In The Nature Corner, Ernie Marshall writes, “In our depiction of angels, we have not given them the strength of lions but the wings of birds. Perhaps this is our ultimate tribute to our feathered friends.” God covers us with his wings, keeps us safe in his arms of grace. Psalm 91:4 reads, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” God’s loving protection covers like a hen’s wing feathers protect her chicks. We always have a safe haven in the Lord’s arms.

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song,” Joan Walsh Anglund. We all have a song we just have to have the confidence to sing.

“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”— Rabindranath Tagore