Why Wise People Pay Attention to the Birds

Why Wise People Pay Attention to the Birds

Posted on by Michele Morin

We’ve been watching birds here on this country hill for over thirty years and have compiled quite a long list of regular visitors. Year-round, the chickadees rend the air between forest and feeder, and then stitch it back up again after sampling some seed. Mourning doves are the faithful clean-up crew on the ground below, and winter cardinals show off their plumage, the only splash of color in a gray world.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks and hummingbirds brighten the palette when the weather warms, and enterprising avian thieves strip the holly berries off our bushes by the back steps. Birdsong is the background music to summer weeding in the garden, and I listen for loons as I hang sheets and towels on the clothesline.

Some of my favorite people love to pull a chair up to the windows and watch the comings and goings at the bird feeders! It’s a quiet, reflective activity, and I like to think that my grandchildren are learning important lessons about the character of God and his creation as they “look at the birds of the air” (Matthew 6:26). Life is fast and the world gets loud, but when you’re looking out the window with wonder, something valuable is preserved.

Bird watching is a quiet, reflective activity, and I like to think that my grandchildren are learning important lessons about the character of God and his creation as they “look at the birds of the air” (Matthew 6:26).

Author and pastor Kevin Burrell reminds me that “when Jesus calls us to consider the birds, he wants us to understand things like redemptive love, trusting faith, and unshakable hope. Those lessons are the more important points, but Jesus used birds to showcase these greater realities. And so, on my best days, birdwatching is a means to a greater end, a window through which the character of God is illustrated.”

Burrell was inspired by the influential English theologian John Stott, also an avid birder who coined the term ornitheology to describe “the interplay between creational attentiveness and biblical teaching, or specifically, the study of birds and the study of God.” For the believer, it’s easy to see how the two intersect.

Considering Sparrows weaves unique observations from birdwatching with meaningful insights and applications from Scripture. Working from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Burrell considers the birds as they teach us important lessons about the gospel. Alongside Aedan Peterson’s illustrations, the book is as delightful as it is edifying.

I learned from Considering Sparrows that the Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal on the planet. They also model a slow discipleship with their young that the church would do well to imitate. From now on when I see flocks of birds coordinating themselves in a midair, winged dance, I’ll be reminded of Paul’s description of the church’s unity as we “stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). I want to live in the strength of contentment and the power of longterm endurance like the Mallard duck who is at home in the air, in the water, and on the land.

If you’re looking for joy, open the book of Philippians—and then open a window and listen for the pure worship of the bird chorus.

Considering Sparrows by Kevin Burrell weaves unique observations from birdwatching with meaningful insights and applications from Scripture. @penguinrandom

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four married sons and a growing fleet of adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

13 thoughts on “Why Wise People Pay Attention to the Birds”

  1. We LOVE watching the birds! It actually started with my nephew who learned the names and bird calls of so many of our local birds and passed it on to my middle son who then became obsessed. We had bird books and bird clocks and this toy/machine that had all these bird calls programmed into it so we could memorize/learn them all. Then we started in with the bird feeders and now we almost all have a bird identifier app on our phones so when we hear them and can’t see them we know what to keep our eyes open for.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. We keep our field guide handy in case any new comers arrive. It’s so much fun to identify the birds we hear on our walk using the app. Sometimes, I think they get it wrong, but it’s still a big help.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. We have front row seats to the art of all things nature. Deer munch around the yard all day. Not the least bit afraid of us. Birds galore. One pair of bluebirds nest close to the back deck every year and the very territorial male fights his reflection in the back windows for weeks. 

    We watch as the circle of life unfolds sometimes being quite brutal. Like the hawk swooping down and grabbing a newbie gosling.  The predators have to eat too even though we don’t like how it has to be. There is a tiny warrior bird that bravely dive bombs the hawk though. Kind of inspiring.

    This year, though, we have a pair of black headed vultures nesting in our chimney. They often sit on the roof and look in the high windows, as though they really would like to come in. They have claimed the back deck as their personal perches. I have been able to walk up to the door and they don’t even move. I think if I opened the door they would walk right in.  

    Not sure how to evaluate if there is a message here. 

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I can imagine that. LOL!  When you live in harmony with nature you don’t give two thoughts to things like the squirrel coming up to the glass door wanting to know it there might be any more of those delicious nuts I threw out the day before. So two vultures enjoying the back deck as their personal space didn’t phase me. But then I did some research – whoa. First, they are a federally protected species. They don’r make a nest but a clutch is usually two eggs – that, when hatched, will take three to four months to mature. I guess they will be here for awhile. Yikes!

        Liked by 2 people

  4. We do a lot of informal bird watching ourselves. But this morning we found a dead dove on our front porch! Not sure how that happened, if it ran into the glass door or if another critter brought it to our door as a “gift” that we didn’t want. Our neighbor’s cat is known to bring us such gifts from time to time. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

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