Connection

Alleluia! Sing to YHWH a new song! Sing praise in the assembly of the faithful. ~ Psalm 149:1

You only ever hear it said with tongue in cheek, but “did you see it well enough for me to count it?” is not an incorrect description of the team effort that marks many bird identifications. Often a tricky identification consists of a group compilation of field marks, when it would be a miss without other eyes and ears to help. And, of course, there are all those times when a bird would have escaped your attention had it not been for another birder pointing it out. It is not really an exaggeration to say that “solitary birder” is an oxymoron. At minimum, pure logic demands that it is impossible to identify a bird you have never seen before if someone else hadn’t seen it previously and described it well enough for you to make the identification. Birding absolutely requires connection.

Those lines of connection not only stretch between humans cooperating together, but clearly with the birds who are the essential part of the equation. But there are other connections with other more-than-human kin. Habitat is often key to identification, so the landscape and vegetation are part of this web of connectivity. Date and location also figure into the likelihood of a species being present or not. When all these variables have been utilized time and time again, they become like a musical instrument in the hands of a true artist, creating beauty by what appears to be magic. Sure, countless hours of the hard work of practice precede these moments of awe, and credit goes to the individual for the commitment, but at the beginning there was a teacher and along the way there were no doubt many supporters and contributors. Each of us has the opportunity to create a completely unique mash-up from the gifts of all our connections at each and every moment of our journey. The only person who can prevent that is you. You might decide that it should be all about you and your effort and expect great praise and reward for your effort. That could result in exactly that, or more often in isolation and begrudging applause. Or you might listen to a negative inner voice assuring you that you are not at all special and have nothing to offer, leaving your shining jewel hidden, doing nothing to inspire awe in anyone, even, sadly, yourself.

Connection is such a fundamental positive that Christian theology understands the Trinity as the persons of God in community. In a way, it is a shame that the concept is limited to three, otherwise we might be on the lookout constantly for all the varied ways divinity is at play in and around us.

Prayer: Holy Many-in-One, lead us in the dance of connectivity finding our gifts in the magical web of creation. Amen.