Choosing a Direction

Well, it is almost that time of the year. The time when it becomes increasingly difficult to attract and keep my attention unless you have wings and feathers. May always brings the peak of migration to this area. Every day there is a bird to be seen that is a first for the year. Who am I kidding? Not a bird, many birds. And these are birds that often don't stick around for long. In particular, many warblers show up as night falls and take off the next morning giving the faithful only a brief early morning window to greet them.

This is also the time of year that I combine competition with birding. May 14th is the 22nd annual World Series of Birding. I will be there in New Jersey with dozens of other crazed birders competing for 24 hours straight trying to observe more species than any other team. This year I am captain of our team, The Friends of Salem Woods Wicked Witchities ("witchity, witchity, witchity" is the common description of the call of the Common Yellowthroat). The best we Witchities have ever done is 173 species and a 13th place finish. After the work of learning how to identify all these birds the real distinction between the top teams and the also-rans is route choice. With so many species scattered about the state of New Jersey, connecting the dots in the most efficient way is critical. That is not to mention the problem of uncooperative birds stealing precious time by not be present at the exact moment the team is there!

Of course, not all my birding is this intense. Indeed one of the most rewarding practices is simply wandering good habitat expectantly. This is something I do regularly as well. It is not unusual to show up at a site and have no particular plan as to where to go. That doesn't mean that I wander aimlessly and get lost. It may mean that I wander around to the point that I find it hard to return to the start, but that is different than being lost. I like to compare this type of travel to the way I think we should pursue our spiritual walk. When I wander like this I listen for voices, the voices of the birds, to choose the path to take. In our spiritual life we need to listen for God's voice to tell us where to go. Just like the birds, God doesn't usually speak so clearly that we have no doubt. Whether it is a matter of identification or interpretation, there is still a lot of guesswork involved. Only a commitment to following in the direction that the voice comes from will lead us to the increased experience that will make future discernment easier. I hope that you take the risk of following the voice of God in your life today…and every day!