It’s so quiet outside I can almost hear myself breathe. I wonder where all the birds are. Yesterday evening around 8:00 the new robins were chirping up in the tree. Several weeks ago there were broken blue eggs under that tree. Ever wonder how baby birds could be so very tiny? They must grow up really quickly.
But this morning, silence. Not even the chittering of the squirrels that are always trying to eat the bird food. Is it the sign of an impending storm? Are they huddled together like we sometimes do when there’s an impending storm?
Huddling together is almost an instinctive way to ward off danger. That’s why the pandemic was so strange to us. We want to shelter ourselves with others but a plague, and that’s what it seemed to be, a plague, forces us to act counterintuitively. It is hard to shelter ourselves in God alone when we are alone, without others.
Prayer for the Day
Still unsure of what awaits us during the day, O God,
In the stillness of the early morning, we look for your Presence;
Carrying worn masks when we venture in the world,
We look at others and wonder if they are safe to be with.
Hold us, O God, as a mother firmly holds her child,
For we still are fearful of plunging into a world unprotected.
In the name of him who steadies us now and always,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Green was the silence, wet was the light,
the month of June trembled like a butterfly.
Pablo Neruda, from Love Sonnets (1904-1973)
The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence.
Marianne Moore, American poet (1887-1972)
Give ear to my words, O Lord, give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God; to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you.
Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them
So that those who love your name may exult in you.
Psalm 5: 1-3, 11