The Birds

      Lately the sound of birds singing has been very special to me. The reason being is that it is terribly cold and wintery out there and yet, the birds still sing. I especially notice it in the mornings when I am walking into work. I am usually the first person there in the morning so I get out of my car to a quiet parking lot and a quiet building. It is cold and frosty but when I pay attention I begin to hear the birds. It is a sound that fills me with peace and hope and joy. This morning as I was crunching through the snow on my way in, I heard them once again. I stopped, closed my eyes, and listened. And I realized that that one faint song was actually a couple, and they were clear and sweet and beautiful.
       Now the birds have reminded me of a couple things lately. The first being that even in the harsh cold winter, the birds keep singing because they know that one day spring will come back. Sometimes in our lives we get to a spot that seems harsh and cold and hopeless. But God never leaves you hanging there, He promises hope, and life and spring to that harsh cold wintery place.
      Then this morning I was reminded of a second lesson from the birds. I couldn't hear the birds that well as I was crunching my way through the hard, dry snow. I heard the crunch of my own boots and the thoughts swirling in my head. I was aware of the birds but they were in the background. Then, I stopped, closed my eyes, and listened and the sweet song became clear and loud and beautiful. In life we sometimes get caught up in listening to our own crunching feet. In my case the crunching feet tend to be fear and worry, your crunching feet might be different, but whatever they are we get to caught up in listening to them. We need to stop, close our eyes and listen to the song of peace, and hope and promise that God is singing over and around us all day long.
       The One who created spring and the bird's song loves you so very much. Listen to the birds!

“The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.”~Eric Berne

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” ~Robert Lynd