When robins travel on the ground, they mostly do so in little runs, then stop to locate a worm. The robin I saw yesterday trilled across the ground, chest puffed out, head up. He wasn’t listening for a worm, he felt good and he was strutting! It didn’t take much to fill that bird with the joy of living; a cool day, sunshine, the knowledge that food was just under his feet, and he had the world by the tail with a downhill pull!
Yesterday afternoon, I glanced out my kitchen window and saw two doves taking a dust bath in the newly spread mulch in the herb garden. They must have liked the scent and the feel because they luxuriated there for nearly an hour!
And a few days ago, two sparrows caught my attention. They were sprawled in small heaps atop the deck railing. They looked like feathery puddles. No mulch for them, they were taking a sun bath.
Whether it was the coolness of the day, the warmth of the sun, or the scratchy feel of mulch, these birds had a good time. I could tell from looking at them that they felt great. Whatever the day, they loved it.
People can learn a lot from watching wildlife. They take the day as it comes and find joy in the commonplace. These birds, when they aren’t busy with their families, fill the air with song and find some spare moments just to rejoice in the sunshine. I should do the same. St. Paul said, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound” (Philippians 4:12). Today, if we get the rain that’s in the forecast,or if the sun shines, like the sparrows, I’ll rejoice. The world abounds in God’s blessings.
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