Love Birds

The back of our house faces south.
Our kitchen and family room stay shady until late morning.
I can open the blinds on my picture window near my sink and look out to the woods.
By noon, the sun is so bright, the blinds have to be tilted.

It was still early morning when I saw them.
I was looking for an owl that tends to come to the same branch right near the edge of the woods.
There was no owl but I was mesmerized by what I did see.
Two birds were perched side by side in a tall tree.

My husband bought binoculars when our children were young.
He wanted them to be able to see the various birds that came into our yard.
I did not go to the closet in the foyer for the binoculars.
Instead I just watched, standing perfectly still, knowing full well the birds could not see me.

I am not an ornithologist.
When I saw the two birds on the tall branch, I wished I was one.
In my head I called them, love birds.
Love birds was good enough for me.

I watched them as they stayed side by side on the branch.
I watched as they preened their feathers.
They seemed to move in sync with each other.
Whatever direction one bird turned, the other bird turned in that same direction as well.

Their movements fascinated me.
If one bird preened feathers on the right side, the other bird preened on the right side.
I thought of synchronized swimming and realized I was watching something that precise.
Then all the movement stopped and the two birds remained perfectly still.

There they were side by side on the tall branch; neither one was moving.
I stood at the kitchen sink for quite a while.
I had to blink my eyes to refocus.
The love birds never moved.

If birds experience contentment then these two love birds were content.
It was perfectly fine to be on the same branch together.
It was perfectly fine to stop their preening and be still.
Side by side they stayed on the tall branch by the edge of the woods.

Some movement caught my eye outside my kitchen window.
A tiny bird was flitting to and fro.
The little bird flew to the deck railing and then flew over to the holly bush.
The little bird hopped down onto the deck itself, constantly moving back and forth.

And the love birds were still.

I finished some things that I had to do in the kitchen and looked out one more time.
The love birds were still there.
The love birds had not moved on the tall branch near the edge of the woods.
I thought of a verse from the book of Job.

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7-10)

Our culture celebrates young love, as it should.
There is nothing sweeter than a young man and woman beginning their life together.
There is excitement about the newness of their relationship.
There is excitement about all the firsts in their married life.

However, what our culture does not celebrate quite as well is mature love.
Love that has been through the test of time.
Love that has become comfortable.
Love that becomes more about companionship and togetherness.

Mature love looks quite different.
To the young, who flit around here and there like the tiny bird, it looks downright boring.
Mature love can be in the same room and never speak a word.
Mature love can speak years of memories in one glance.

My husband likes to fix things around the house.
He enjoys taking on new projects.
He just said to me, There is nothing I need to fix in the house right now.
When everyone was home, there was always something to repair.

I looked at him and answered, It’s all backwards!
He looked confused.
When we were younger, we didn’t have the time or the money to do every project.
Now the children are grown; we have the money and the time but nothing needs fixing.

The irony of life.
The simple paradoxes as we journey through life together.
The birds I saw in my woods represented young love and mature love to me.
Each has its place; each was a joy to watch.

I have experienced both.
There is a sweetness to each.
How many nights are my husband and I each reading a book without saying a word?
Yet there is contentment, there is purpose, there is love.

The covenant from this day forward sustains the love, not the love, the covenant.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Covenantal love looks different as the years go by.
The two love birds on the branch were in sync with each other.
They moved together.
They were fine being side by side on the tall branch.

Before I pulled the blinds down and tilted the slats, I saw them.
Their stillness was broken by one small movement.
They turned their heads towards each other.
Their beaks met.

I tilted the blinds with a smile on my face.
I understood.
Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
The hand of the Lord has done this, and it is very good.

2 responses to “Love Birds”

1. I love this! We can learn so much from animals–just watch some of the things on u-tube where animals are captured in such funny, endearing moments. I miss the trees behind my old house where I could see so many kinds of birds and other animals. One special time Don and I watched two rabbits chase each other around and around our house. So cute! I think God gave us animals to inhabit our world for our good and to show His love and creativity.

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   • You are so right, Sue! Watching the animals and birds is mesmerizing! We can learn so much from them if we take the time to be still enough and notice. I’m glad you were blessed.
     Gina

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