Although there were clouds on the horizon, it was a nice morning for a walk. The baby fawn had already taken off with her mother after nursing in the yard and one could hear all kinds of birds in the trees.
I tend to walk with my eyes on the ground ahead of me, not just because I’m short but because I’m usually concerned about tripping over something. My middle name is really klutz. But then first I spotted a blue jay feather and next to it a small broken egg.
Jays have a reputation for stealing the eggs of other birds, even eating their chicks, and I had to wonder if this egg contained the prey. The egg was so small. How is it possible that something so small could yield a beautiful bird, full of song, welcoming us to the day? Picking up the feather and the egg and saving them will remind me even in the deep of winter that God always gives new life.
Prayer for the Day
Breathing in the soft morning air of summer, O God,
Transfixes us by the grace you offer us each day;
Stopping to listen to the sounds of birds in the trees above,
Awakens us to the glory of your creation.
Surround us, O God, filling us with the verdant beauty of summer,
And increase our commitment to caring for your creation.
In the name of him who walked among the lilies,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
A bird does not sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song.
Maya Angelou, American poet (1920-2014)
In order to see bids, one must become part of the silence.
Robert Wilson Lynd, Irish writer (1879-1945)
The trees of the Lord drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon God planted,
Where the birds make their nests; the stork whose home is the cypresses.,.
The high mountains for the gazelles, the crags a shelter or the badgers.
God made the moon for the fixed seasons; the sun – God appointed its setting.
Psalm 10416-19 (Tr. Robert Alter)