Rainbows & birdsong
Photo by Sar Castillo
Blog by Emma Howarth, MitE Director of Operations
When I went for my walk with my dog this morning I made a conscious effort to see things, as often we look without seeing. We take things for granted. We expect things to be there. I particularly noticed two things this morning: rainbows and birdsong.
Firstly the birdsong was tremendous. Obviously it is the time of year when birdsong is at its best as birds seek mates and nests are established, but this year there is a second blessing. When the lockdown was announced in March, road traffic slowed. I live nearby a very busy A-road, and it became easy to walk across at any time because the traffic was so infrequent. In fact there was more danger from the increased number of bikes in the cycle lane, which is shared with the footpath, than there was from the traffic on the road. So with less traffic noise, the birdsong has been much more audible. Sadly the volume of traffic is increasing rapidly as people ease out of lockdown but the birdsong is still there. So too the still small voice of hope and reason can sometimes get drowned out, but in the lessening of the traffic of daily busyness this voice has soared and swelled. Hope and reason tells us that this is not forever, that it is for a season. Hope and reason tells us that we may have been touched by personal tragedy, but life continues even if it is unimaginable at this time. Hope and reason tells us to sing our song in a new land, a different land from the one we left in March, one changed forever by this global situation. The busyness may return, as the road traffic has, but the voice of hope and reason, like the birdsong, has been heard so can’t be ignored or forgotten.
Secondly I saw all the window rainbows. They have been there all along, but I saw them properly again this morning. It is spirit-lifting to see! People started drawing rainbows and sticking them in their windows, making them out of Lego, making woollen rainbows, painting them on the glass, I saw one this morning drawn on the glass in wax crayons and thought, they will regret that! These rainbows have come to be symbols of resilience and hope in this global crisis. Who can fail to smile or have their spirits lifted a little when they see a rainbow? It made me think of the promise that we are given by God in the Bible in Genesis that He is there and doesn’t give up on us.