I sat in the porch swing this morning watching the songbirds after Penelope and I took our morning walk. The sky was a morning’s deep blue with fluffy white cumulus clouds. The clouds looked like Father Sky had shaken Mother Nature’s crystal jar of cotton balls all across the sky. Cumulus clouds are the picture perfect clouds we drew on our artwork as children. I just hope no clouds fall from the sky today. The average cumulus cloud weighs 500 tons, the same as a fully loaded jumbo jet, one million pounds! They just seem weightless to me as the glide across the sky.

It was so hot went I outside mid-afternoon, I found Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego sitting in one of my porch swings. Mother Nature has dialed up the heat and humidity. She needs to send some rain my way. This afternoon’s storms just rumbled around us.

When I went outside at twilight the air was heavy and warm. Mother Nature had washed the sky in a glorious pale silver blue, her paint heavy enough to hide the sun setting. I imagined the sun running around, rolling down the horizon in wild abandonment. Reminded me of a quote by Meeta Ahluwalia. She writes, “She danced wild across the evening sky, dispersing clouds with the frill of her gown.” I can see the sun dressed in a 1920’s short, straight sterling silver sequined dress, cloche hat with a small peacock feather on her head, rolling down the horizon and jumping into the arms of Father Sky for her goodnight kiss. The sun’s dress was too short to disperse the clouds so Mother Nature watercolored a glorious sunset for God’s eyes only.

I know I write about songbirds every day. Those little feathered beauties bring so much joy and peace to my life. I honestly feel they are gifts from a loving God. Elton John writes, “You can cage the songbird, but you can’t make her sing. And you can trap the free bird, but you’ll have to clip her wings.” That is a great quote to ponder.

Birds are living testaments to God’s grace for those who believe in him. The beautiful songbirds are metaphors for God, too. Songbirds trust God to provide for them. God guides them on their flights in the heavens through their God gifted instincts. Scripture tells us to have a similar trust just as we are empowered by our faith in God. God guides and enables those who follow his teachings. Job 39:26-30 states, “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?”

“A bird’s song can inspire hope and bring peace to the heart.” – Unknown

Never really though about it but no one has ever lived in a world without birds. In the garden of Eden, Adam gave names to the birds after God brought them to him after he had finished watercoloring their plumage. Genesis 2:19-20 reads, “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”

Through our Christian faith we can be a songbird for God. Psalm 104:12, reads, “The birds of the heavens dwell beside the streams; they sing among the branches.” The songbird greets God’s new day with a joyous song of praise. We can begin our day with a prayer of thanksgiving, our words a melody for God’s ears in both joyful and sorrowful times. We can fly through adversity with God’s grace. Our actions in how we treat our fellow human beings is a part of our worshipful songs, too. We have to remember that God will provide for us just as he cares for the birds. Our lives sing to God when we live by his commandments. Ephesians 5:19 counsels us to “address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”

Birds are used in Bible scripture to teach us that God cares and provides for all his creatures including us. “The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” Rabindranath. I’ve written that quote so many times. Isaiah 40:31 reads, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.” We should all pray for wings of faith.

“Birds are the silent poets of the earth, their songs echoing in our hearts.” – Unknown