The Mockingbird and the Pear

Moments that make us pause and praise

Have you ever heard a mockingbird sing before or after the rain? Mockingbirds will put on a show in the morning as the sunrises too. They remind me of scriptures “Let the faithful rejoice that He honors them, Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.” Psalms 149:5 and “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say again rejoice.” Phillipians 4:4, “Let heaven and Earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them.” Psalms 69:34 There are many, too many scriptures to include here that make mention of praise.

These past two months have been full of unexpected events. Moments that have taken us by surprise. Moments that have caused us to emotionally retreat to our safe spaces. To question what we see in comparison to our mind’s eye. I for one have been struggling to see past the obvious and tangible things of this world to remain focused on God, to recognize His presence in the events that have occurred since September.

The picture posted with this prose has a specific story of its own- a story I’m not sure how to tell- so I’m just going to write it word for word and edit it later. This is what I experienced on October 18, I remember because my birthday was on the 17th. So, on Saturday afternoon I wanted to continue working on a painting I had started the week before. I paint outside on the deck my husband built in the backyard. I enjoy the natural space. I set up my paints on one of those portable folding T.V. tables and took a pear from my pocket (my snack) and placed it on the table with the paints and other supplies. My dogs followed me there and laid down nearby. I kept looking at the time because my mom was planning to tell the grandkids about a recent diagnosis she had received before our bible study. Our family members live in several states, and we learned how to stay in touch with each other during 2020.

About 3:30 I went into the house to join the zoom meeting, leaving everything outside. When we finished the family call and bible study, I closed the zoom meeting and went back outside. I reached for the pear and stopped short of biting into its juiciness ’ because there was a hole in it. It was a strangely shaped hole. It looked like a tiny claw mark. “What happened to my pear?” I said out loud. My daughter who was lying in the nearby hammock during the zoom call came over to see it. She shared that she had seen a bird on the deck that flew into the tree. The bird was wiping its beak on the bark of the tree, and she wondered why it was using the tree as a napkin. As my daughter was speaking, I took the pear and placed it on the wooden rail of the deck a few feet behind me near one of the wooden gate posts. I continued painting and talking to my daughter as my husband came out to join us. We shared the story with him. All of a sudden, my husband said, “look, look, that bird?” I turned around to see a Mockingbird perched on the rail. It was watching us, watching him maybe 5 feet away. One of our dogs was lying on the deck floor licking her paws. I surmised that either we or our Aussie were preventing it from enjoying its fruit. Once it flew away (back into a nearby tree) I moved the pear onto one of the shelves of my husband’s grill which is shaded by our neighbor’s tree and returned to painting.

I continued to paint until the clock struck mosquitoes o’clock. They convinced me to retreat. I packed up the paints so my curious dog wouldn’t have a paint party and looked over towards the grill. Fruit flies were swarming around the pear, so I picked it up and tossed it over the deck rail towards a garden bin I use for compost. As the pear sailed in the air and supposedly landed in the garden compost bin near the tree the Mockingbird used as its napkin, I begin to hear a frantic chirping. If I could translate the inflections of the tones and pitch of the chirping, I would say I was being scolded. That Mockingbird was fussing me out! Have you ever been fussed out by a bird? It was dusk, birds go to sleep at night, don’t they? Every once in a while, an owl makes its presence known however, Mockingbirds aren’t nocturnal. I was taken aback that the bird was watching me and upset that I moved that pear.

Well, my daughter came back outside and as I was sharing how I had been reprimanded, she noticed that the pear had not fallen into the garden compost bin. As you can see in the photograph, it landed on the side, securely skewered, as if someone caught it and sliced it to fit, tongue and groove on the metal wall of the bin. “Even the birds have Angels” my daughter said with a smile on her face. “We can’t make this stuff up” I said.

“Yea the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.” Psalm 84:3.

God knows the events of the past month have been intense. The state of the nations, family matters; my daughter in love lost her dad, one of my best friends lost her mom, three women including my momma (waiting for test results) diagnosed with cancer, our bonus daughter’s wedding, our daughter relocating, and less than 24 hours ago as I write this we’ve been blessed with the healthy birthing of a new grandson! So many emotions, so many unanswered questions. The simultaneous warping and integrating cycle of life rotating and revolving and interacting in ways we will never understand does not stop to allow us to catch a breath, so God provides moments that we have to pause. That little bird and that pear redirected my attention to the One who gives, to the One who sees, to the One who cares, to the One who loves us!

As I was going outside the next morning to feed the dogs, and to toss more stuff into the compost bin, what do I see comfortably perched on the side of it? I see a comfortably perched silky smooth grey feathered Mockingbird eating a pear with a side of fruit flies! I stopped in my tracks and backed away. I didn’t want to disturb it again.

This event speaks volumes to my soul. I can attempt to explain why it brings me comfort by reflecting on Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 - 34. Hence, I truly believe that our Father, Abba Father has just made it very clear that He is true, and faithful. He is proving over and over again that the scripture is alive and active. So live! Live life abundantly and to the full. Whatever the situation Jesus has given us the opportunities to see, faith, my faith is being made sight today. Psalms 145:10 says, All Your works shall praise You, O Lord and Your saints shall bless You. Ladies and gentlemen there’s a mockingbird in my backyard that likes pears! Peace be unto you.