Father Sky used his pastels to sketch a sombre leaden overcast sky today. He pushed and rolled his pastels in cigar smoke grays, pale purples, and blues across the heavens using his fingers to blend the colors together, leaving no room for the sun’s rays to peek through and warm the day. The bird feeders were busy all day with cardinals and chickadees and titmice and finches. The host of chipping sparrows love the feeder by the scuppernong vines and have claimed it as their favorite. They take turns on the feeder, sitting patiently, their reddish brown velvet caps contrasting so beautiful with their fawn brown coats highlighted with black and white stripes. I thank God daily for his gifts of songbirds. They bring me cheer and hope for tomorrow.

Read a Chinese Proverb today — “Keep a green tree in your heart and a singing bird may come.” I love this! Trees provide so many things that sustain us, so much life, too, breathes from the trees’ branches. Bible scripture refers to the Tree of Life as giving life to our relationship with God. When our trees are green our hearts are open to God’s presence. Debasish Mridha writes, “The more you open your heart to others, the more your life becomes joyful.” When we nurture our relationship with God, with a heart full of the songbirds of love and kindness, we feel peace and joy. We put down roots of faith that anchor us when life’s storms threaten.

We can compare our hearts to a tree that puts down deep roots. Our hearts are anchored deeply in God’s grace and love through our beliefs and our faith. Our rooted faith helps our hearts mature and produce kindness and compassion just as a tree matures and bears fruit.

Bible scripture tells us if we are rooted in God’s love we will flourish and thrive. Psalm 1:3 says, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 states, “The person who trusts in the Lord will be blessed. The Lord will show him that he can be trusted. He will be strong, like a tree planted near water that sends its roots by a stream.”

When we’re strongly dedicated to our faith we are like a tree deeply rooted in fertile soil. We draw our strength from studying the Bible and praying. On every branch of our tree our faithful heart has a birdsong, feelings of joy and hope that come from deep inside us.

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” — Martin Luther