This is springtime. The colors outside are beautiful. I take a walk in the evenings sometimes and I see the colors. The other day I was talking on the phone with someone. The person on the other end of the line said, “The birds are loud there.” I responded, “I don’t hear them as much as you do.” I explained it away saying, “The frequency of the birds chirping is easier to hear through the phone.” Yeah, that’s right! I just didn’t pay attention. That’s all.
This is what happens to us many times. When the colors are bright in front of us, we do not see them. When the person dear to us talks to us, we don’t hear them. The world is passing by faster in the process. We miss opportunities to connect and care.
Take a few minutes off from whatever it is that you are doing every day. Take a quick ten minutes “Sabbath” in the middle of the day. See the beautiful colors, hear the lovely voices and renew yourself. We all need a few minutes break so that we can hear the “birds chirping away” and praising God. St. Francis made this a daily practice in life. Therefore, in the end, he could even talk to the birds and they listened to him.
The sound of nature is loud if only we take time to listen. Yesterday, I listened to the sound of ants. I know I sound crazy. In a TED Talk, I heard recently, it was fascinating to be reminded how powerfully God is present in nature and how much we miss God around us when we do not pay attention.