30 Days of Hearing -- Birdsong

Ah, the first day of March. And, compared to most of February at least, it came in like a lamb. The temperature rose to almost 40 and snow was melting. The driveway is becoming a wee bit less rutted -- you actually have to steer up the 1/3 of mile unlike the past week where you put your front tires in the ruts, took your hands off the steering wheel, and let yourself be guided.

But the most remarkable thing -- fittingly for a day to begin "30 Days of Hearing" -- was the birdsong that was evident. From the moment I opened the garage door this morning until when I pulled back in this evening, the sound of birds was evident. Happy, chirpy sounds of tiny birds to the piercing cry of a white tailed hawk searching for food to the gentle calls of the bald eagles down the creek from us to squawking of geese flying overhead.

It was the sound of the world coming back to life, it seemed to me. It reminded me that, in spite of the snow and cold and gloom, that life was all around me. And that it often is, if I will just take time to notice it.

It also reminded me that our senses are intertwined ... so intertwined that we often take them for granted. I heard the bird songs as I walked and felt the ground under my feet and felt the wind on my cheeks. I heard the cry of the hawk and searched the sky with my eyes until I spotted it circling and soaring. I smelled the mud I stirred up as I tramped with my boots and the scent of the creek rushing by brought the taste of fresh water to my mouth.

I noticed all of this because I heard the sound of birds. And I was reminded of one of my favorite hymns, "For the Beauty of the Earth"

For the joy of ear and eye
For the heart and mind's delight
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight;

Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise

Indeed ... the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight. A true gift from God that I recognized anew because of the birds singing their praises. Cardinals, jays, hawks, woodpeckers, eagles, and even an owl -- all singing out, declaring their Maker's creativity and grace. And someday, even a weak voice like mine will join with all of God's creation and

"And we will surely sing
With all the wonder of birds..."

Till that day...

-- Brent