Consider the birds… (2)

'That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?' Matthew 6:25-27 (NLT)

Last week we asked you to stop, look and listen to the birds. Did you do it? What did you hear? What did you not hear? After the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch we noticed that the birds were quiet even near our home in Johnsonville. This lack of tweeting for at least a week was quite unnerving. It was not that we were too busy to listen; it was that they were not singing at least at the times we were listening. We asked different people living in Christchurch if they noticed the silence of the birds. Several mentioned that was one of the first things they noticed.

When we lived in the Washington DC area of the United States, our home was in the middle of a small forest. We had about 35 trees in our yard. Trees have leaves that fall and must be raked up in the autumn. Trees also house birds who love to sing. One afternoon I head the sound of what seemed to be hundreds of birds tweeting. I raced to the back door to find out what had happened. A group of migrating birds were visiting the trees of our back yard. They were swooping all over the place and making a racket that even disturbed the local birds. It was kind of like being in a scary movie, but it was exciting. Then suddenly the birds moved on and a brief, eerie quiet was left in their wake. That silence lasted about twenty minutes.

We like to go to Kiatoke Regional Park and walk. While there we stop and get quiet so we can listen to the birds. It brings refreshment to my spirit. Listen to the birds. Listen for the variety of bird song. What do the birds have to say about God?

'Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.' Song of Solomon 2:11-12 (NLT).

By Commissioner Debi Bell