I am tucked in, enjoying the garden view from my kitchen window today. My throat is raspy with a spring cold and storms are continuing to move cross country toward the South, making the ground way too wet to work outside even if I felt up to it. It’s a good day for planning projects for when the sun dries the earth and the winds and rain have passed. It’s also a day to watch and see how the birds respond to the turbulent weather. I love watching their antics, and today’s blackened sky and heavy rains haven’t interrupted their routine. Song fills the air, as they diligently go about the work of courtship and building for spring’s first clutch. The bluebirds are back, and my heart is elated that they are settling into the same box they raised their little ones in last year. The hummers are doing their “swooping dance”, I think to establish their territory and place around the feeders. Towhees and Thrashers and Doves have come in pairs, as have Cardinals and Nuthatches. The Jays and Robins seem to still be in family groups, though we have both nest in nearby Pines in past years.
I rationalized that I needed to rest today, allowing me to do some of the still work of gardening, laying out color and plant position plans for spring, but I realize it’s a good excuse to sit a watch my little friends. We have had both Crows and Ravens this Spring, as we do most years, but this year I have watched them closely, learning their distinguishing features. They are from the same family, and at a glance, it is easy to mistake one for the other. In pondering that, I have thought of the need to discern things that look similar that are not always so. In this day when things look the same, but are so not the same, sometimes a lesson in discerning the distinctions in our feathered friends can be a good training ground for looking more closely and discerning the not-so-obvious. At first glance our eyes can be fooled, and assumption can lull us into thinking we know what we really don’t. There are subtle differences in Raven and Crow, and unless they are side by side for the comparison, it is easy to confuse them. I am smiling as I realize I don’t have to rationalize not “working” today. The necessary lesson and work of discernment is there to be learned, and there is joy in the way that it has come. Thank You, Abba Father.
Ps 119:130 The entrance and unfolding of Your words give light; their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple.
Ps 119:131 I opened my mouth and panted [with eager desire], for I longed for Your commandments.
Ps 119:132 Look upon me, be merciful unto me, and show me favor, as is Your way to those who love Your name.
Ps 119:133 Establish my steps and direct them by [means of] Your word; let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Ps 119:134 Deliver me from the oppression of man; so will I keep Your precepts [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]. [Luke 1:74]
Ps 119:135 Make Your face shine [with pleasure] upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes. [Ps. 4:6]
Ps 119:136 Streams of water run down my eyes, because men do not keep Your law [they hear it not, nor receive it, love it, or obey it].
Ps 119:137 [Rigidly] righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are Your judgments and all expressions of Your will.
Ps 119:138 You have commanded and appointed Your testimonies in righteousness and in great faithfulness.
Ps 119:139 My zeal has consumed me and cut me off, because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.
Ps 119:140 Your word is very pure (tried and well refined); therefore Your servant loves it.
Ps 119:141 I am small (insignificant) and despised, but I do not forget Your precepts.
Ps 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth. [Ps. 19:9; John 17:17]
Ps 119:143 Trouble and anguish have found and taken hold on me, yet Your commandments are my delight.
Ps 119:144 Your righteous testimonies are everlasting and Your decrees are binding to eternity; give me understanding and I shall live [give me discernment and comprehension and I shall not die].
Ps 119:145 I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord; I will keep Your statutes [I will hear, receive, love, and obey them].
Ps 119:146 I cried to You; save me, that I may keep Your testimonies [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].
Ps 119:147 I anticipated the dawning of the morning and cried [in childlike prayer]; I hoped in Your word.
Ps 119:148 My eyes anticipate the night watches and I am awake before the cry of the watchman, that I may meditate on Your word.
Ps 119:149 Hear my voice according to Your steadfast love; O Lord, quicken me and give me life according to Your [righteous] decrees.
