Sacred step

Thursday in the Third Week of Lent
Feast of St. Joseph

The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime;
in the night season his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:10

In the predawn darkness, I hear the rich song of a robin, calling the morning into being. Yesterday, my spirits were lifted by the sound of birds busily rustling in the bushes preparing for a new season. And for a moment, along with the birds, I was oblivious to the trouble all around me.

It is the middle of Lent. It seems to have begun a lifetime ago, and I am far from certain where it ends. And although I have been here before, this time is surely different. In this wilderness danger and threat dog my every step and obscure the way forward.

Yet even in this time, this space, this devastation, the robin lifts his voice, trilling glory into the world and heralding hope and new life to come. And the robin’s song is God’s song. Not only because Love called that robin into being and put that song in its throat, but also because God is surely here as well. Calling out to me, reminding me of holy  presence.

Promising me that my next step, any step, is with God.