Clair Hess dropped by my office a couple days ago and gave me a gift: a beautifully crafted bird’s nest that had fallen from a tree in his yard.  It’s two and half inches wide and an inch and a half deep, made up mostly of what looks like thistle and cattail down tied in place by thin weed and grass straws.

I first got to know Clair in 1958 when I was finally old enough (at 16) to join the Hudsonville Baptist Church choir which he directed.  Clair had come to the Grand Rapids area to work for RBC a year or so earlier—and now at 86, he’s still working as a senior editor.  Over 50 years here!  [If the name sounds familiar to you, Clair was the first tenor in the world-renowned male quartet: The Melody Four.]

But back to the nest.  When he found it, Clair brought it into the house to show his wife, Frances, a wonderful musician in her own right, and one who enjoys writing poetry.  The nest became just her latest creative inspiration.  To me her poem expresses perfectly the purpose of this website: learning how to enjoy the wonder of creation, and it reflects the message of Psalm 111:2 that appears above on our masthead: “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.”  Enjoy the creative “pondering” that took place in the heart and mind of Frances Hess upon the contemplation of a bird’s nest:

A Bird’s Nest

My husband coming in from work said,  “Look what I have found—
A perfect little bird’s nest!  It was lying on the ground.”
I held it in my hand and said, with serious contemplation,
“Just think—the birds have been building nests ever since Creation.”

Somehow they knew the place to live was high up in a tree.
Instinctively they realized that’s where their home should be.
They’d look for where some branches came together in conjunction,
And there their future nest would wedge for daily life to function.

Material for their home must be light-weight, so why not straws?
Not heavy, carried in the beak, they’d serve a worthy cause.
To find them they would have to search, but work is part of living.
They’d trust their Maker every day for strength He would be giving.

When straws were found, the bird would choose and clamp one in his bill
Then fly it to the tree-notch.  He would make these trips until
At last he had a little home with perfect insulation,
And perfect for his own dimensions—marvelous creation!

In time birds start their family–what ingenuity,
For God intended birdlife to have continuity.
The parents bring the little ones their daily food supply,
And when their wings are stronger, then they too begin to fly.

The marvel of a bird nest!  In my hand was the construction—
Circular and perfect.  Where do birds get their instructions?
Their precious God-given instincts have preserved generations,
And in our hearts is praise for all God’s wonderful creations.

The Scriptures tell us Christ was the Creator of all things,
And that includes the birds—yes, the little ones with wings.
This contemplation blessed my heart–how much, I cannot tell.
We know that God who cares for birds will care for us as well.

Thank you for blessing our hearts too, Frances!  Your conclusion is reminiscent of William Cullen Bryant’s on his contemplation of the flight of a lone waterfowl:

He, who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky
thy thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.

—To a Waterfowl, 1815

See you outdoors!

Dean