Swarm, Ocean!

God spoke:

Swarm, Ocean

"with fish and all sea life!

Birds, Fly 

through the sky over Earth.

God created the huge whales,

all the swarm of life in the waters,

and every kind and species of flying birds.

God saw that it was good.

God blessed them:  Prosper!  Reproduce!

Fill Ocean!  Birds, reproduce on Earth."

It was evening.  It was morning -

Day Five.

Genesis 1:20-23

On the fifth day of creation, which parallels with Day Two, God spoke into existence sea creatures and fish to fill the waters that were separated from the sky.  He then created birds of every shape and size to fill the heavens over the oceans.  The thought bears repeating that God could have made cookie-cutter birds that all looked and acted and flew alike.  Instead, the breadth and depth of His vast imagination produced an astonishing variety of birds and fish.

Growing up, my mother raised parakeets.  I can't remember a time in my childhood when there was not a budgie or two chirping in a cage or hanging onto the top of the living room drapes.  She delighted in speaking to them as they perched on her finger, and spent hours teaching them how to talk.  The few times that a bird managed to escape the house and into a nearby tree, Mom would find it almost immediately, because it would be sitting on a branch just yakking away.  

When I see a bluebird or cardinal flying through my backyard, I wish that I could hold out my finger and have one land on my hand.  That is not about to happen in today's world, but in the world to come, I really look forward to enjoying the company of a wealth of beautiful birds.

*

And God will raise you up on eagle's wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of His hand.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 143