“The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth,” Dorthy Fransis Gurney. Those simple words capture this beautiful morning. The earth herself is a glorious garden in springtime. The sky is a pastel light celeste blue this morning, calm and clear of clouds. The earth with her green freshness and flower blossoms sprouting all over is almost glowing under the yellow sunshine. I think springtime puts an Easter bonnet on Mother Earth, trimmed with colorful flowers and tiny ruby throated hummingbirds.

Enjoyed the porch most of the day, pondering and bird watching, drinking coffee and eating cookies. My yard is full of glorious songbirds singing and chattering. I’m mesmerized by the yellow goldfinches and the indigo buntings. Four red wing black birds joined the other small flocks of songbirds in my yard late afternoon. The songbirds give me hope and I view them as gifts from God. The Vatican of cardinals is Chief’s gift to me each day. I always think of this verse from Psalms 91 when my yard is full of songbirds, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” I love to think of being covered and comforted by God’s angel wings. God even keeps up with the common little sparrows. Matthew 10:31 reads, “His eye is on the sparrow so I know he watches over me.”

I’m watching the songbirds flying from feeder to the old oak and back, singing freely and happily. Their simple songs make me appreciate my childlike wonder about the earth. Songbirds seem to be so full of optimism, waking the earth with their glorious symphonies at sunrise each day. The big loud bumblebees are flying around, their buzzes blending with the soft wind chime tintinnabulations. Elizabeth Lawrence says, “The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.” Love thinking about that! Can’t wait till I have sunflowers and rows of zinnias blooming. “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow,” Audrey Hepburn. How true!

Getting ready for oldest brother to bring his tiller over. I found two small cucumber plants in my flower garden when I filled up a bird feeder on the edge of the garden. Last year I’d just throw the big yellow cucumbers that were too old to eat in the flower bed. Oldest brother and I argued yesterday over whether the little plants were squash or cucumbers but my plant app reads them as cucumbers. I did have a yellow squash near the cucumbers last year so guess we’ll have to wait and see when the plants mature to see who wins that argument.

Song of Solomon 2:11-13 describes the arrival of spring and the renewal of nature on earth. “For, lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.”

Spring can be seen as a time of spiritual renewal and new beginnings. Just as spring follows winter, Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus with the hope and promise of life after death. God calls us in spring to have our own spiritual renewal of faith, dedicating our life to reaching out to others with opportunities to share our Christian faith.

“May my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living.” — ee cummings