A Study of Perseverance and Determination

One morning I awakened and looked out my second-floor bedroom window. Still sticks from winter, the trees offered a clear view of two blue jays constructing a cradle in one of the V-shaped junctions where two branches come together.

I watched intently as each bird carried a stick in its beak, adding to the nest. One of the birds dropped a stick just before it landed in the nest, and it twirled to the ground. Without hesitation, the bird flew down to the earth, retrieved the stick and made a successful deposit.

The birds also chose large, dried leaves to line the nest. One of the leaves reached over the sticks like a quilt or blanket rests over the edge of a crib.

During all this forming and fluttering in anticipation of their babies’ arrival, these two blue jays demonstrated perseverance, cooperation, persistence, and determination.

Every day I checked on their progress. I could see the nest getting bigger and bigger. Before long, I noticed the mother blue jay sitting on the nest, seemingly stuck by glue during a blustery spring day. I wondered when I would see little beaks opening.

Before the baby birds were born, spring leaves unfurled and filled the tree blocking my view. All I could see was a small part of the nest: the dangling brown leaf.

Maybe I’ve seen all I needed to see – perseverance, cooperation, persistence, and determination. I’ll ponder these attributes modeled so well by those two parents hard at work. And maybe, if I open the window every morning for the next few weeks and listen closely, I’ll hear the little ones cheep.

Prayer: God, thank you for the way your creatures demonstrate attributes that are important to life. Inspiration comes in many ways, including from animals you created whose lives we can watch. Amen.