Open your eyes and swallow

I recently puzzled over a huge blob of mud located high on the brick wall of my front porch, just underneath the overhang.  It looked as if someone had taken several handfuls of the stuff and tried to hit the same strategic spot.  Was my house under attack?  And by what?  Giant insects? Racoons? A street gang?

 “It’s a swallow’s nest…a barn swallow,” my husband informed me over the phone.  Not only did this former ranch boy know what it was, he knew the exact species of its maker.  Before hanging up, he told me to leave it alone and he’d get rid of it when he came home.

Relieved, I returned to the porch and perched myself on a metal bench about ten feet away from the nest where I could study its construction.  As I also wondered why I had ever purchased such an uncomfortable piece of furniture, a small bird suddenly swooped in and out of the covered porch.  It repeated this maneuver twice more, then finally landed on the edge of the nest, cocked its tiny head in my direction and gave me a nasty look.  It worked.  I went inside the front door and watched through the glass.

The swallow’s feathers were a deep metallic blue.  Its belly was the color of amber and its head a brighter orange.  I pulled The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds off my top bookshelf and blew off the dust.  Color plate 352 for the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) could have been a photograph of my new squatter. The habitat key gave extensive details about its voice, habitat range and nesting characteristics.  I read the last two sentences.

“ Because it nests under the eaves of cottages as well as palaces,  the Barn Swallow…is the most popular bird in Europe.  Destruction of its nest is believed to bring harm—fire, lightning, death—to the house and its inhabitants.”

Perhaps the nest wasn’t as unsightly as I had first thought.  I’m not superstitious, but then who was I to argue with a continent of people responsible for the Enlightenment?  And didn’t the Bible talk about swallows and sparrows.

Out came both my Bible and the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, one of the best Christmas presents I’ve ever received…thanks again, kids!  I found the short entry for swallow.

“ Bird that migrates to Palestine from March until winter.  It made nests in the temple (Psalm 84:3) and was often seen with the common sparrow… sometimes confused with the swift.”          

You have to like a bird that’s not above flying around with the commoners.    

I turned to Psalms.

“Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.”      

I concluded that King David also had contemplated a swallow’s nest beneath the cornice of the temple porch.  Could he have imagined that 3,000 years later, in a distant corner of the world, someone would read his lyrics and be inspired to tap out a blog, silly but sincere?  Most doubtful…but our God certainly knew.

My uninvited guest had become a blessing!    In my mind, what once had been an eyesore and a potential nuisance had transformed into an altarpiece, an intricate design developed by God with its exact building specifications programmed into the tiniest of His creatures.

The nest is staying.

Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders.

Psalm 119:18 The Message