The cardinals that built a nest in the shrub outside my front door have flown away. I was fascinated with them for the duration of their stay. They persevered when we had the shrubs pruned and even after I discovered the nest and wanted to visit it every hour, but limited myself to twice a day. They had four little ones and now at least one of those is returning to our feeders. I learned that after they leave the nest, the mother bird leaves to start another nest, but the father stays close and continues to feed them occasionally. One of the young ones now inhabits our hedge, and the father does come to visit it and sometimes to feed it. I feel as if these cardinals are almost my own family, but they don’t return the feeling. They live in a different world from mine, and I understand only a fraction of their world.

Yet, we have one thing in common: Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows (cardinals?)(Luke 12; 6&7) We are both God’s creation, and Jesus reminds us to take comfort in our place in the natural world, a place of importance to God.

The lives and activities of the birds are fascinating, especially because so much of them are hidden. We might see a flash of red at the birdbath, or in the trees, but keeping track of their whereabouts and their activities is difficult, as if they live in a world within a world. Their beauty makes them irresistible reminders of God’s creation, of His beauty and His sharing it with us. C.S. Lewis once wrote, But for our body, one whole realm of God’s glory would go unpraised, for the beasts can’t appreciate it. . . I fancy that the ‘beauties of nature’ are a secret God has shared with us alone. That may be one of the reasons we were made—and why the resurrection of the body is an important doctrine.

(C.S. Lewis, Images of His World) Jesus knew of our love of beauty in the natural world. He knew, too, that we share this love with his Father.

Cardinals have flown in earth’s skies for at least hundreds, if not thousands of years, spreading delight in their color and song, to any who claimed the moment to look and listen. They are one more small bond between God and His people.

Love in Him,

Prue