“The month of May is the gateway to summer,” Jean Hursey. Today was a study in the coming summer. Bright blue sky with a thin layer of bridal veil clouds, stretched across the sky canvas, sketched by Father Sky’s white pastels. One lone turkey buzzard was riding the spiral staircase of the wind currents, winding up the sky till it was just a speck in the blue heavens. The neighborhood was cathedral quiet this morning making the birdsongs’ hymns all the more glorious. E.E. Cummings said, “I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.”

There are so many beautiful quotes about songbirds. This is one of my favorites, “The birdsong was the river of the air, a flowing music that hydrated our parched souls,” Angela Abram. When I sit in the porch swing and hear the songbirds’ symphonies it’s a comfort to me, soothes my soul like a flowing river feeds the dry earth. Maya Angelous says the birds “do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song.”

The little songbirds start each day with a song in their hearts. They greet the day happily and joyously, We could learn a lesson from them. “I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think,” Rumi. Each day we’re granted is a gift from God and we should welcome our day with prayers and thanksgiving, facing each day with a song of faith in our hearts. Each day is a new beginning, a fresh start on living the life God has mapped out for us.

The colorful songbirds can teach us about being faithful and the importance of trusting in God’s care. God provides for the songbirds and he will provide for us. Matthew 6:26 states, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” God cares for the smallest of his creatures and reminds us we are more valuable to him. Songbirds remind us to find joy in the simple things of life. Even when faced with challenges we can look to God to bring a song back into our lives.

If we could only trust God as the little songbirds do, winging our way through life trusting God to provide what we need. Jesus tells us to follow God and trust him to give us what we truly need. When we focus on God’s faithfulness and trust in his grace, he will take our worries away. We need to be thankful for what we have and find contentment in what God provides.

I think songbirds symbolize joy and freedom and hope. Their beautiful songs are spiritual renditions of their love of God who generously provides for them. We can see them as messengers or guardians bringing messages from our loved ones in heaven. In Psalm 148:13 we are invited to “praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.” The little songbirds sing their praises to God by instinct. We need to praise God intentionally, making a deliberate choice to set aside time for prayer and Bible study. Ephesians 5:19 encourages us to “sing and make melody to the Lord with your heart.” We can all have a song in our hearts when we experience the joy of being a Christian.

“Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.” — Victor Hugo