The above photographs of birds are of birds, whom I have not spotted in our garden for several months. I travelled back to those times when the morning sights had such a diversity of birds in their favourite flight stations in our garden.
My interest in birds started when Anna and I lived in the Bagayam campus of the Christian Medical College, Vellore from 1997. The wooded areas in between the houses were shelters for birds. One of the first impressions of that season, when I was beginning to get familiar with bird habits, was that some birds came to visit our garden regularly. They were comfortable to be near human habitation. It was this that fascinated me.
When we came to live in our cottage where we are now in 2012, I looked out for birds as the cottage was surrounded by tall trees with thick foliage, which was ideal setting for bird movements.
Anna took considerable efforts to bring out the above publication in 2020 telling our experiences of watching birds in our garden.
It is now about 25 years since this habit of tracking birds and becoming familiar with their flight movements around our homes, which began at Vellore and now continues at Keezhillam.
One gain from watching the birds is an interest in observing what happens around us in the lives of others.
I was moved to read a few days ago a passage from the book of the Proverbs in the Old Testament of the Bible, chapter 25: 6-8: ' Do not claim honour in the presence of the king. And do not stand in the place of great men; For it is better that it be said to you, 'come up here', than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eye have seen'.
When I read this, I remembered the teaching of Jesus on a similar theme recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, Luke 14: 7-11. 'But when you are invited go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend move up higher'; then you will have honour in the sight of all whoa re at the table with you. For every one who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself shall be exalted' (v 10-11).
What inspired me was the insight Jesus of Nazareth received from the learning of the Scripture for Him to base His teachings in alignment with the earlier teachings in the Old Testament of the Bible. Jesus expanded, clarified, interpreted and established the nature and heart of God in His teachings. He was grounded in the Scripture to live its truth in His life and teachings.
It dawned on me that it was this wisdom which He acquired by being a diligent student of the Scripture which enabled Him to be at the temple in Jerusalem at the age of 12 years to be with teachers of the Scripture to engage them with His questions and thoughts (Luke 2: 41-52). What was told about the way Jesus interacted interested me: 'And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers' (v 47).
Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, created the ambience for Jesus to be formed by a sound grounding in the Scripture. Jesus could base His discourses and teaching on what He learned from the Scripture became of his home where Scripture was revered.
We live with our story of earlier years, memory and learning experiences. They have formed us and given us an outlook to life.
Our learning experiences have their origin in our earlier years. The grounding one receives is upon which a person builds on !
I feel grateful for the life experiences during the formative years, which draws me to the anchor to stay rooted! When I drifted, meandered or slipped, the hidden truth within became the 'light and lamp' unto the path in life.
Looking back, watching birds gradually became an experience of being visited by feathered friends! Their silence and song is a message to desire to live in an integrated way. Their periods of silence give them a song !
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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