Bird Song

 Bird Song

A small bird built a nest in a shrub outside my study
window. Every morning he sang.

As I listened, I asked myself, "Do I have a song like
that every day? Am I irritable? Do I fret and fume, or
do I have a song? Not a song expressed vocally, but a
melody in the heart.

Sometimes the shrub sways roughly, buffeted by bitter
winds. sometimes the ground was hard with frost, yet
always there was bird song.

One morning rain pounded on the study roof. Surely
there'll be no song today, I thought. But, yes, it came
stronger and more glorious than ever.

When clouds roll over my life, and sorrows and
heartaches press down on me, I remember that bird--and
also Paul's word to "Rejoice in the Lord always."

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice
and be lad in it" (Psalm 118:24). 

  -- by G Holdway