Birds

Lately I have found myself photographing birds. A recent walk along the shore produced a number of images. Birds are fascinating for their color, their song and calls, their behavior, and flight habits, among other things.

If we want to develop a love of the natural world, it might be helpful to focus our attention on a particular aspect of nature, such as birds. It could also be forests, or gardens, or weeds along the roadside, or lakes, mountains, and the sea. The important thing is that it captures our wonder and appreciation.

I would imagine that Jesus appreciated much of the natural world around him, as he walked with his disciples around the Holy Land and spent time on the Sea of Galilee.

Many of his parables and teachings used images from the natural world, such as fig trees, wheat, sheep, yeast, bread, grapevines, fish, and, yes, birds, to help us to understand how the Spirit of God works in our life. Sometimes God uses the simplest things to teach us life’s greatest lessons.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26)