A few weeks ago, my husband and I went for a walk with our dog at the peak weekend in our area for bird migration. We found a spot in a park known for bird migration and opened my birding phone app to listen for what birds might be in the area. To our delight, there were many: familiar robins, song sparrows, cardinals, and goldfinches, and ones we rarely see: indigo buntings, rose-breasted grosbeak, and an orchard oriole. Our phone app showed when a given bird was singing and identified it. Then we searched. We managed to spot some of the more common birds, such as the beautiful and bright goldfinches, but seeing the rarer ones eluded us. We think once that we may have spotted the orchard oriole, but before we could be certain, the bird flew off from its half-cover in the foliage to another part of the tree canopy. I felt happy for the outing and yet wished for sightings of the indigo and grosbeak, who remained elusive.
After birding, I reflected on how much those same interior movements of mine can correspond to seeking and finding God in all things. I can find God in the ordinary moments of life, such as the fresh breeze coming through my window as I write this or the shared meals with my husband and adult kids on the back porch on a summery day. However, the desire for more of God, for what I have not yet known of God, also entices me, like a rare bird. Where can I find God in what is new and not already familiar to me?
St. Ignatius used the concept of the “more,” or magis, to describe the idea that we often want to give more to God and can be called to be more generous to God in what we offer. For example, a person might be called to give himself away more in a new commitment to serving others. This desire to give oneself to God more fully is found in the desire to search out God in ever more places. That is, as St. Augustine said, we are never simply satisfied and at peace with God but retain an element of restlessness in our seeking and finding of the divine. Like the birder who desires to encounter more birds and finds happiness in the seeking of them, there is always more of God to find and to enjoy.
My phone app suggests a “bird of the day,” different each day, and it occurs to me that there might be a parallel spiritual practice in deciding to seek God in one particular kind of place on any given day. For example, one might set an intention to seek God in the natural world one day and see where we find consolation in nature. Another day, one might decide to be on the lookout for God in incidental relationships, the people one bumps into during everyday life at the post office, store, or water cooler at the office.
Sometimes the ordinary bird turns out to be the gift, and we need to shift our focus to embrace it. Last week I noticed that a backyard birdhouse was being used by the most common of birds, the song sparrow. As I watched her pop in and out of her birdhouse, I thought about my gratitude for my children and being a mother to them and the ordinary ways that we enjoy our relationship, such as celebrating a birthday or going on a walk when one is visiting. God is in the ordinary as well as the unexpected, waiting for us as we continue to seek God in all things.
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Always a blessing to read your thoughts. Thank you