rainy afternoon

Rain always puts me in the mood to write... and to drink more tea than I already do. It’s funny what the weather can to do to you.

I am so glad God created a colourful world. Aren’t you? It is especially on days like today, when the clouds hang heavy and grey, that the colours around me are more vibrant. The grass looks greener. The dirt is browner. And the flowers seem revived.

I am happy to report that I have taken up a new sport, and am all the happier and healthier because of it. Perhaps you have heard of bird-watching. Yes? Well, I propose that, as well as something quite like it, called bird-listening. If you’ve got a pair of ears, then this is the sport for you! And if you tend to be a worrier, then this is definitely the sport for you! It involves fine-tuning your ears so that you can hear the birds. Usually when one starts chirping, others chime in, and before you know it, you have an orchestra overhead in the surrounding trees. I’m tellin’ ya… they are eager little chatterboxes. In fact, they are one of the most talkative creatures in all of God’s creation. The problem, however, is that we have tuned them out. Either that, or we are too busy listening to the competing worries inside our minds. This should not be so. God says that His eye in on the sparrow (Matthew 10:29). He also says that He feeds the birds, so that they are ‘careless in the care of God’ (Matthew 6:26/the message translation).

For me, birds are God’s little reminders that He is a caring Heavenly Father, who sees everything and sees to everything. That to say, I believe that Jesus would be an avid supporter of bird-watching and bird-listening. Not only that, but I implore you by experience, that these sports are good for the soul. I highly recommend them.

Some of my favourite lyrics are from Jon Foreman. In his song, Your Love Is Strong, he says this- I look out the window // The birds are composing // Not a note is out of tune // Or out of place.

Isn’t that wonderful? Yes it is.

P.S. Turn off your music. And listen to the rain.