Bird-Brained with St. Francis, Again

 

                               Church of Reconciliation, Taize Christian Community, France 

This Sunday I will invite folk at Trenton United Church to give their attention to the birds around them during the season of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday -- two weeks from today! Here is the announcement we'll share:

Bird-Brained with St. Francis in the Season of Lent

Last year you were invited to record sightings in the natural world/Creation on a calendar page for a month. What you saw and shared was wonderful!

This year marks the 800^th anniversary of the death of St. Francis who was said to preach to the birds and other creatures. 

So, we invite you to note the birds around you each day during Lent with a calendar page we will provide. 

Avian biologists remind us that we tend to take for granted the presence of birds and I think this is true. During the cold and snowy month of January our feeders were busy, seemingly endlessly, with a variety of bird species. We were forewarned of each storm by the intensity of activity. 

Two weeks ago we hosted a member of our family for a few days She is living with Alzheimer's Disease and her short term memory is gone but she is still her lovely self in the moment. She was enchanted by the feeders and asked us the same questions about the different birds and the seeds we deploy -- endlessly. Somehow this was okay, ensuring we didn't take our avian friends for granted!

As I looked for art images of St. Francis preaching to the birds I found this wonderful linocut by Sarah Fuller with the title, The Birds Preaching to St. Francis. Clever and true. The birds do deliver their sermons to an often bleak world, with courage and joy.