A Convention Of Birds

"The bright red coat caught my eye first..."

A flash of red caught the corner of my eye from my chair on the screened-in porch. Looking up from my book, I watched a pair of cardinals flitter from tree branches to the pond and back again. “Did the vibrant male cardinal and its duller-coated female have a nest nearby? Or was this a courting dance for the pair?” I wondered.

Now intrigued, I raised my eyes to the distant garden bed and gasped with delight as several iridescent bluebirds gathered around various bird feeders. I’d never attracted these elusive and beautiful songbirds before. This was a rare sighting in my garden.

Then flashes of bright yellow and a harmony of song caught my attention as well when a half dozen bright yellow and black little songbirds descended on a patio table around a tabletop bird bath to sing and converse.

"I'd never seen these bright birds before..."

“What was happening? Why this sudden gathering of birds? Were all my plantings of flowers and bird feeders attracting new life to my once barren garden?” I asked myself with amazement. But curious as to this new gathering of songbirds, I searched for the name of the bright yellow and black feathered friends. American Goldfinches!

Pleased at the gathering of goldfinches in my garden paradise too, I learned the once dull-feathered birds exchanged their brown coat in the spring for a new vibrant coat. I couldn’t help but note the parallels of resurrection life and how their bright feathers and delightful song brought delight to my day and joy observing the gathering of these many feathered friends.

Just as the dead season of winter had blossomed into spring, the garden was attracting all sorts of new life. All my hard work had transformed dead flower beds into vibrant life, and creation was on full display.

Hummingbirds seemed to dance a well-orchestrated waltz as they flitted back and forth to the bright red nectar of the hummingbird feeders. Next, my eyes were drawn to a pair of Carolina Wrens, as they chirped and flew in and out of a hanging basket of impatient flowers. I studied the pair as they returned again and again with scraps of grass and leaves. “They’re building a nest right outside my porch!” I laughed to myself.

"Bluebirds were a rare sight in my garden..."

This convention of birds in my backyard overjoyed my heart and piqued my interest. “Had I been too blind or distracted to see creation on display all around me? Had I been too deaf to attend to the delightful sound of songbirds all around me?” I wondered.

Creation’s display and God’s Voice were on stage at this convention and gathering of birds. I just needed to look and see, and stop and listen to Creator’s love call as well!

Beloved:

I call to you every day just like the songbirds I have created. All of My creation speaks of My love for you. Draw near, and I will tell you of My love.

 “Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you…”

(Job 12:7-8)

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Luke 6:26)

“Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God.” (Ps. 83:4)