“The birds of the air” (Post 56)

J. G. Holland says, “God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.”

Yesterday I spoke to a businessman on the phone and we arrived at the conclusion that we need God’s wisdom, provision and guidance during this difficult season and its implications for the future. Nature speaks about the goodness of God and the birds bring that to our ears it seems.

I have a very basic knowledge of music; I can play slow songs on the piano if I have easy sheet music; I taught myself to play the guitar more than thirty years ago and recently I tried to learn the basics of the clarinet (which may take a few more years to master, if I want to do it well). The reason why I mention my amateur musician status and musical interests is because the birds come to join me whenever I try to play a tune. (I would like to know if other musicians experience the same phenomenon.)

I am not really into bird watching, because I find it difficult to keep quiet and to remain still, but it always startles me that whenever I start to play scales or I try to master a basic tune, my ears immediately tune in to the songs of the birds outside my room. When I have become aware of them, it seems as if the energy with which they communicate intensifies during those moments when I am producing "instrumental speech". (The scientists may provide insight. Are we dealing with frequencies here?)

I do not know why that happens. Is it because the birds are responding to the harmonies or the tones of the tunes? Do I become conscious of the birds or do they become conscious of me? When I try to create music, I enter a different domain; my fears of being lonely and destitute are erased by God's little "angelic" creatures "who" remind us that they are indeed cared for and that they lack nothing. May we look at the birds of the air and keep the faith.

More than 30 years ago I made this mixed media piece on paper. I turned it into a tapestry-like pattern here. There are birds depicted here and I thought this could suit the topic.