A Joyful Sound

I went out on my front porch this morning, resolved to be more consistent in my devotions. I sat in the sun, pulled my jacket tight because the frost was still on the grass, and then grimaced because the forester was in the woods, his chain saw bzzzt-ing and his bulldozer roaring. I tried to focus, reminding myself not my woods, trying to believe not my life, but yours Lord.

And then something amazing happened. A flock of birds landed in the trees on the corner of my property...so many and so raucous that I couldn't hear the buzz of the chainsaw. They were smallish birds, black as far as I could see, with a song only a half-step away from a cackle. But it didn't matter because they were loud and joyful and they filled the trees so that the leaves crackled in tune with their song.

I tried to make out what they were but the sun was in my eyes. I didn't need to see because the power of Creation asserted itself in music far more powerful than my own little devotion or the forester's saw. BadCat came running and cowered behind me...even in her evil ways, she recognized a power she couldn't scratch or bite.

As if to multiply the blessing, the flock came down from the trees and spread themselves out before me on my front lawn. Nondescript black birds, maybe smaller than robins, with a high-pitched tweet tweet. Singly, I wouldn't have noticed them but as a flock...a body, perhaps one could say...they formed a joyous congregation. Surely they're migrating and hence the stop to pick through my grass for a little nourishment. I love that they are fulfilling God's plan for them, and doing it with a roar!

They're gone now but their song lingers...as does my smile.