A Psalm for the Birds

                                                                Ruby-throated Hummingbird

 Since leading our study of the Psalms at Trenton United Church I've been reading the Revised Common Lectionary psalm for the day as regularly as possible. It's been a worthwhile endeavour both as a spiritual practice and as a discipline to read psalms which are essentially new to me, even though I've read through them in the past. I usually read from the updated version of the New Revised Standard Version of the bible and the translation by esteemed Hebrew scripture scholar, Robert Alter. 

Yesterday it was Psalm 102 which in Alter's version begins: 

Lord, O hear my prayer, and let my outcry come before you...

This psalmist is a suffering insomniac tossing and turning in the night. There are three references to birds here, two of which are quite specific. 

I resemble the wilderness jackdaw, I become like the owl of the ruins, 

I lie awake and become like a lonely bird on the roof. 

I had no recollection of these "for the birds" verses, but they intrigued me, especially how specific the first two were about the species of birds. And that there are both wilderness and urban birds. 

Shortly afterward I headed out for a meander at a conservation area where I first saw four male redwinged blackbirds engaged in a noisy dogfight. The flash of their red and yellow epaulets as they flew in a tight circle was captivating. 

I then crossed the road from the marsh boardwalk to the other woodland portion of the area and as I did so a pileated woodpecker flew directly above me. These impressive birds are often heard rather than seen but there it was in its magnificence. I made my way to the river where I saw a bald eagle on the nest which will soon disappear into the emerging foliage. 

Later in the day I was sitting on the deck when I heard the whir of hummingbird wings almost immediately behind me at one of our feeders. It was the the first we've heard and seen since putting them out, and it lifted our spirits. 

I'm all for bird similes, however they're employed, and I appreciated the "coincidence" of the psalm reading and what I observed during the day. I'm glad that this old buzzard who occasionally experiences insomnia can still learn new scriptural tricks. 

                                                         Christi Belcourt, Metis artist