Found another Indian prayer in my reading today. The Cherokee Blessing — “May the warm winds of heaven blow softly upon your house. May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there. May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows and may the rainbow always touch your shoulder.” I love the simplistic beauty of these words. The warm winds are blowing softly on my house playing melodies on my wind chimes. I am blessed by the beauty of the morning and my moccasins have made many happy tracks in my yard as I fill the bird feeders and water my gardens. I know God’s rainbow is touching my shoulder. I feel his presence in the warmth of the sun.

The day is so pretty. The trees are almost dressed in their permanent greens, not as many different colors of green in tree leaves as I look around the neighborhood. The magnolias have started shedding their brown leaves. As they clack down the street when the breeze is heavy Penelope stands, checking to see if she needs to bark at an intruder in her territory. Mr. Red Breasted Grosbeak left his mate at home and brought two of his male friends with him. The indigo bunting came alone, spending the morning sitting on a thin stalk of millet stripping the seeds off. He’s so handsome in his blue plumage. The Cornell Lab describes the indigo bunting as “a scrap of sky with wings.” The cardinals are hopping around in the pine straw while keeping an eye on Kat who is napping on the porch bannister.

I was enjoying all the songbirds and their symphonies and thought how beautifully God painted the feathers of the birds he created. We read in Genesis 2:20 that God brought the animals to Adam for him to name them. “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.” As Adam named the creatures he realized God created these animals with a purpose in mind. I always feel God sends the beautiful songbirds to cheer me and soothe my soul, to bring me peace and comfort on my cloudy days.

Saint Francis of Assisi said to the birds: “My little sisters, many are the bonds which unite us to God. And your duty is to praise Him everywhere and always, because He has let you free to fly wherever you will, and has given you a double and threefold covering and the beautiful plumage you wear.” The birds are like disciples for the Lord urging us to sing songs and symphonies of praise for all God’s gifts and blessings, telling us to gather together to weather the storms, to be grateful for the warmth of the sun.

“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark,” Rabindranath Tagore. With our faith we feel the warmth of God. Even in the darkness, when we spread our wings and fly, our belief in God guides our way. We soar and fly freely with our dreams on the faithfulness of God and his grace. If we give up on our dreams we’re like a bird with a broken wing, dragging along the ground. The birds teach us to have faith and trust that God will provide what we need. “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.” Let’s thank God for the beautiful little songbirds that teach us to sing praises to our Heavenly Father.

The sun raced down the dark blue horizon tonight at twilight like a lightning bolt of fire, burning a bright yellow hole in the orange clouds of sunset, sprinkling colorful ashes of pink and purple on the high clouds. She was rolling too fast for Father Sky to keep up so he quickly turned out the day’s light to extinguish her flames. Sunsets are always to beautiful to watch and always a blessing to experience. The sun was showing off today. Wonder who she was trying to impress? She always impresses me with her beauty. The moon and stars, waked early by Father Sky, gossiped about the sun’s audacity to not wait on Father Sky to escort her down the stairs, and whispered she was a “femme fatale.”

Nikos Kazantzakis writes, “As long as there are flowers and children and birds in the world, have no fears: everything will be fine.” What a beautiful quote to remind us to always look for hope and reassurance in the pure beauty of nature and in the innocence of children.

“God of all feather beings. Thank you for the birds. Thank you for the early morning songs. I, too, lift a song to heaven when morning breaks.” — Unknown