Cheep, Cheep

Cheep, Cheep

And God said,

 “Let the waters teem with living creatures,

and let birds fly above the earth,

across the expanse of the sky.”

At some point in her young life, one of my daughters developed a fear of birds.  Apparently this had something to do with her younger sister and dead birds in the yard, but her fear of birds is very real.  Even now as an adult, she will not willingly go near a bird, dead or alive.

I, on the other hand, grew up with birds in the house as pets.  My mother loved budgies (parakeets), and there was at least one of these adorable birds gracing our home all through my childhood.  If the bird was out of its cage, all I had to do was call its name and hold out a finger, and the little creature would swoop down and perch on my hand.  Walking around the house with a budgie on our finger, head, or shoulder was a common occurrence for my brothers and me.

My mother was amazingly adept at teaching our little friends to talk.  With gentleness, determination and vast patience, Mom would work with a bird until it finally chirped its first words.  It would then chatter away, saying over and over again the little phrases it had learned.  I could ask for a specific phrase, and the parakeet would be delighted to supply it.

How I would have loved being in the original Garden created by God, holding out my hand to a variety of birds, encouraging them to swoop down for a visit.  For now, I content myself with watching the cardinals, robins and jays that frequent my yard, or visiting the aviary at the zoo, awaiting the time when God will make all things new.  Our fear of any of God’s creatures will be history. 

*

This is my Father’s world.  The birds their carols raise.

The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.

This is my Father’s world.  He shines in all that’s fair.

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 144