Rev. Tara Lynn

The birds are singing again.

Have you noticed?

Over the past few weeks, I've spent more time in my house than ever before in my adult life. To get fresh air, I've been opening the back door and letting the cool air flow through the house.

This is how I noticed the bird's song returning.

On one hand, this isn't surprising. It is spring! On the other hand, when our entire lives have changed so dramatically in a few weeks' time, I've come to remember that we can't take anything for granted. And so I stop, and I listen.

We're far enough along in spring now that it's not one or two birds singing, but a symphony. I like to wonder what they are singing about to each other.

In the Christian tradition, we have a teaching that uses birds and lilies to make a point. The book of Matthew in the Holy Bible says that the birds of the air don't work like humans do and still their needs are met.

The teaching continues by pointing out that humans are of great value and that, ultimately, we need to let go of our anxieties and focus on what really matters, which is God's kingdom and righteousness.

In God's kingdom all have enough, all are enough, peace prevails and love wins.

We live in anxious times, under precautions for a pandemic, in circumstances many of us could not have imagined a few short months ago. It is understandably easy to let our worries and anxieties weigh us down and cause us to react in fear.

The teaching of the birds is an invitation to focus on living as if God's kingdom has already arrived. This means that we live in a way in which resources are shared, we assume the best of one another, peace is practiced in our hearts, homes, neighborhoods and world.

And we love each other, no matter what.

There is an old expression people sometimes use that says, “That's for the birds.” It means we think something is not worth our time.

Today, I'd like us to think about that a bit differently.

Gather all of your worries, anxieties and fears in this pandemic time. Acknowledge them. And then, once that has been done, open your door and throw them into the air.

Say to yourself, “That's for the birds,” and trust that as the birds wrap your anxieties in their song, the peace of God will prevail and we will, together, persevere in this pandemic time.

The Rev. Tara Lynn is pastor of Grace@Calvary Lutheran Church in Butler.