the introverted bird watcher leaves his comfort zone

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Originally uploaded by NatureShutterbug

a few posts back while reflecting on my 45th birthday, I said that I had made a birthday resolution. with 350 plus days to go... I accomplished it, well kind of.

I never understood why folk would bird watch in a group. I have had some birding buddies over the years, but I would hazard that 90% of my birding time has been solitary. I have known of a birding group for ten years. My resolution.... be brave... join a group.

Sunday I heard thunder for what seemed to be 8 straight hours so it was a grand thing that the group met on Saturday, which was the coolest morn we have seen in a long time. One wrong turn and a need to fuel up the car got me to the Peace Valley Nature Center over by Doylestown, just on time--- I didn't need to do small talk!

OK advantages---

1. these folk know their birds by sight and call.
2. these folk are friendly

The list of birds seen while not huge, was decent, but let me say that it was the blue-gray gnatcatcher (photo found at flickr) that made my day. My general lack of birding means it has been years since I have seen some common birds and this would be an example. They are a bit bluer, but are kind of like a miniature mockingbird.

but this is what lingers for the day...

1. a group of children showed up with their moms and the leader of the walk adapted. He lowered the legs on his spotting scope and called the children to see amazing closeups of kingbirds , herons, ducks.... The man was truly sad that the local bald eagles were missing for the day. His willingness to welcome the children come along will create love of birds. We need more of this kind of action, and I am also glad that none got between his kind actions and the children.... I am sure this is ringing bells out there.

2. I chickened out of the coffee hour after the walk... OK, so the birthday resolution may not yet be fulfilled for the goal was to meet people and who knows maybe make a friend or two. I did chat a bit as we walked, but maybe next time I will get there a moment early and stay for some conversation afterwards since birding is not really a talking event in my eyes, even if you are part of a group.

praise to the potter

30 minutes after the trombonist declares a Hymn of Praise has begun, Mosaic Woman and the other 100 or so members of the Academy Chorale climb onto the risers behind the orchestra. 60 minutes after they emerged to sing, I am present to that trombonist again who is crying out into the evening by himself.

The men sing out... "Let all that has life and breath sing praise to the Lord."

The women join in and with the intensity the line deserves, the concert ends. We applaud to praise the performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2. To praise the gifts of those whose passion for music have been revealed.

Nine hours earlier I am handed a ball of clay. With Jeremiah (18:1-6) and Paul (Romans 9:21) in my head I am told to do this... For twenty minutes keep your eyes closed, and get to know the clay.


as I worked the clay I pulled out a variety of ridges... stained glass, jazz, music, gardening, Mosaic woman, teaching, science, friends, church, prayer, doodling, family. I didn't name them as I went, I just knew there were plenty to make and I kept working those ridges. But when I worked the one side (of what Mosaic Woman thinks is a jaw bone of an ass), the other ridges were faced down in the palm of my hand. It occurred to me that if I just relax in God, his hand will shape me; smooth out those sharp edges. When I allow God to be part of this formation of who I am , the other parts that are resting gently in God's hand are still being shaped.

Last weekend I went out to weed a Hosta bed that runs down the side of our house. God, worked another part of me as my attention was caught by a movement in my neighbor's dogwood.

I love warblers and in years past I have spent the first two weeks of May celebrating their migration. This year one came to me. Four days later, between a stained glass store and my parent's condo, I stop by the Monocacy Nature Center, a home away from home 25 years ago, and a warbler hot spot in the Lehigh Valley.

I didn't see any warblers on that short walk, but there was that deeper desire: to stand still and listen to water flow and birds sing.

being pruned

When I brought up the pruned tree I saw at Wernersville, my spiritual director went to John 15. So when I looked up fruit in my concordance to prepare for my Tuesday night gathering at church, it became one of five that I gathered up for the evening. Yes, five passages in an hour was ambitious, but it worked.

we talked about a society that was commanded by God to celebrate and give thanks for harvests and how our own no longer celebrates harvests (Exodus 23: 14-19). We talked about the pastry chef who changes his menu with the seasons and the complaints he gets from customers. We talked about a psalmist (128) whose blessing is for a family that is fruitful. A parable from Jeremiah (17: 7-8) compared a person with God to a fruit tree planted by a stream. Fruitful even in droughts.

Then we went to Jesus being the vine and we being the branches. Yesterday, while teaching a workshop on the spirituality of growing your own food, I read that passage from John again. The man to my left catches two things and holds on.... He is upset that we are commanded to do something and that we will be thrown into a fire if we don't.

So I spoke about being commanded to stay connected to God, to be nourished, to love others and thus to be fruitful. I also said that a plant with dead or diseased branches should be pruned and it is fine practice to burn those branches. God does not want to burn us, God wants to prune us. God can see the things inside our hearts which separates us from loving others and God desires that we stay a branch of the vine so that we can be pruned. Then we moved to Paul.

It is in Galatians (5: 23-25) that we are told what those fruits will be. Once pruned, the spirit will produce the fruits seen as joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.

So may the love of God prune what is preventing these things from happening, and may we be fruitful. And may we be aware of what is growing in our locality, both the fruits of the labor of gardeners and farmers, and the fruits of the spirit.

Jesuits in outerspace, gardeners in Ambler

This week I heard that for 200,000 dollars folk can spend a few moments in weightlessness. So far I know of no Jesuits who have signed on for the trip. This is about enjoyable reading and again it is about what books can flow into your life.

We do utilize the library here in Lansdale, but for a greater selection we head off to the Genius Belt... Bucks County likes to consider themselves this because of a wave of artists and writers that flowed into the area years ago. The Michener museum next to the library has a great selection of Pennsylvania Impressionism that speaks so greatly in my heart that loves the landscape they captured on canvas. We live just outside of the belt.

Anyway... type in Jesuit into a library search engine and next thing you know you could be reading science fiction. I just finished Children of God by Maria Doria Russell, which is a continuation of her first novel-- The Sparrow. Recommend both to fans of Jesuits and/or science fiction. She was not afraid to get help along the way so that what she did was authentic and in the list of those she acknowledge you will find a few men with S.J. after their name. Her list of experts made me think of my journey.

Eight years ago I was offered a job opportunity which I did not feel qualified for and said so to the person offering the job. I love the job and am glad I took it, but have always felt embarrassed by my lack of training. In those years I have learned quite a bit about horticulture, but did not search out expert advice very often. Thursday evening I sat (dug frozen soil to send for testing, taste tested 10 types of apples, weeded through seed packets, became part of a group of young undergrad students) through my first horticulture class at Temple Ambler. So now it is time to kick myself ever so gently for waiting 8 years and pat myself on the back (ever so gently) for not waiting any longer.

And bringing the decision to take the class before God in discernment--- the downsides of it taking up time, money, and energy; seem to be out weighed by how I see this will benefit my students.