Another day with a cloudless fall blue sky, sketched by Father Sky’s sapphire pastels. The blue was as pretty as a tropical ocean. Ezekiel’s scripture says God’s throne is sapphire blue. “And above the expanse over their heads there was the appearance of a sapphire, in the form of a throne.” Perhaps in these glorious deep blue fall skies we are seeing a small snapshot of God’s throne.

One lone turkey buzzard is circling the wind current staircase winding up in the heavens. The cardinals and finches are happily feeding while four doves bob around under the feeders, their heads marking time with their feet. I read that if you put a dove on a treadmill it’s head doesn’t bob. Did a little research just to be sure I didn’t make that thought up —“The “bobbing” motion is a way for birds to keep their vision stable by keeping their head still relative to the environment while their body moves, a process that is not needed if the surroundings are stationary, as on a treadmill.” Will wonders never cease?

As I glanced up from my writing tonight, I watch Mother Nature paint the horizon with the sun kissed pink of an almost ripe pear. Mother Nature picked up some beautiful ripe pears from her crystal bowl tonight — a Green Anjou, a Red Anjou, a Bartlett and a Comice — as inspiration for her rendering of the sunset, matching her sunset watercolors to the glossy colors of the pears’ skins. The pink color wash was short lived but as Mother Nature peeled her pears, she lay the colorful watercolored peelings in layers on top of the horizon, creating a glorious backdrop of vibrant colors for the golden sun to walk down the evening sky. As the day dimmed Mother Nature reached again for the pears and peeled an African Butter Pear and a Starkrimson to turn off the daylight with brilliant purples and deep reds. The day is dark now and the earth is still and quiet as the night is ushered in by the moon and stars.

I have a window open and I can hear a songbird singing his night music. “We do not ask what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing…,” Johannes Kepler. I love the thought of a bird singing as an expression of its nature, singing for itself, opening their little beaks up and pouring out the feelings in their hearts. I think we all have our own heartsong that comes from our faith in God. When we give our hearts to God we are transformed by our faith, cleansed of our sins. Our new found devotion in the Lord puts a song in our hearts. Psalm 40:1-3 states, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” Some of us sing loud and clear, others hide under a bush, not brave enough to sing of our faith in public. Some of us still struggle with turning our lives over to God and our heartsong is as weak as our faith.

Our heartsongs bring us together. God wants us to express our thanks to him through our heartsongs. Ephesians 5:19 states, “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” Our heartsong is an expression of our innermost self, a deeply felt emotion of gratitude to God. Scripture in Ezekiel 36 reads, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” Our hearts are changed by our faith, our heartsongs expressions of joy and thanks to the Lord for our many blessings.

“People are fighting over how our heartsongs are different. But they don’t need to be the same. That’s the beauty. We are a mosaic of gifts. Each of us has our inner beauty no matter how we look.” — Mattie Stepanek