Listen to a Bird Sing

                                                           photo courtesy of fs999/ flikr

This morning I went out to get the paper and a bird was singing his heart out. Maybe her heart. I stood there for just a few minutes and listened to the rapturous music. This morning was rare for me. So many days I stagger out to get the paper and hear outside life out there.  Inside the TV blares on and on about the Impeachment trial, what Trump will do next. How many Republican senators will be punished simply by following their principles. I just want to cover my ears and turn off the telly. And forget my roof that still leaks and my back that hurts. But this morning was different—I heard a bird sing.

I think that bird put things back in perspective for me. I cannot do anything about Washington and the terrible direction this country still seems to make. I will write letters, make phone calls—but most of my actions will hardly matter. A wave of despondency washes over me. I thought the chaos of the last four years was behind us. Now I am not sure. But this morning it all seemed to fade away as I heard that bird sing.

Of course this does not mean I ignore what is happening all around us. To not face the present dilemmas would make me a poor citizen and a worse Christian. But that bird stopped me dead in the water.

There’s more to life than politics. Think about almost half a million who have lost their lives in the past year. Think of the grief that flows like a tsunami through all our streets. i think of so many of our people whose lives have been upended this long past year.  We cannot escape 

what is happening all around us. Yet, strangely the singing of that bird gives me hope.

Yes, hope. It seems crazy I know. And yet that bird is realer than Trump and all the other things out there that weigh us down. Wendell Berry has this wonderful poem called, "Look Out Your Window". There’s life out there. Yes, my bird--but so much more. That couple pushing their baby carriage. The man walking his dog. The two little girls running after each other down the street. The woman with her open Bible sitting on her porch facing yet another operation.The Amazon-UPS delivering package after package. There’s a whole lot out there as I look out my window.

An old preacher I worked with one time kept saying as he preached: “Are you listening…Are you listening?” Maybe we ought to add: Are you looking. Do not let yourself be distracted but all that dark and venomous stuff out there. And inside too. Remember. Look out your window. Listen. Look. If we do that long enough I am pretty sure our perspective will be healthier and we'll wake up as I did this morning—and who knows, you just may hear a bird sing.

(You might enjoy Dr. Bruce Yandle's splendid piece, "Worried About Your Country? Try tending your garden". 

                                   --Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com