Even Without Knowing What the Day Will Bring

I have many, many, MANY drawers filled with handmade papers. I have a bit of an obsession and I make sure to keep them safe until I am ready to put them to work. I bought this paper with the birds in the trees many years ago. I loved the birds, wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it…then I recently read this quote again and had this idea. I went purely vertical and I like the visual image of it all. I have done this quote before and it always lifts my spirits. It reminds me about the power of faith:

Faith is the bird that sings
while the dawn is still dark.

– Tagore 1941

Not every day in our lives is filled with rainbows and butterflies. There are fear filled days, sad days, work obsessed days, and even days that are so mundane we can’t remember what we did the next morning. We do what we have to do – work, eat, sleep – and then do it all over again tomorrow. After weeks or months of this kind of a daily treadmill, faith that things will get better can be hard to muster. The repetitive nature of life has a way of wearing us down. Unless we gain a bit of perspective.

Perspective is what this quote gives me each time I read it. I am humbled and reminded that no matter how I feel, faith is an action not just a thought or feeling. We have to DO something to show our faith, to spur it into action, to remind ourselves that we are indeed willing to be faithful. Like that little bird who sings in the dark, we have to behave as if we know that things will change for the better, even when there is no evidence to back up that belief. Faith is not about having all the facts, it is about believing no matter what the facts tell us.

So in the dark of night, before any glimmer of light shows up, be that little bird and sing your heart out. As if you are urging the light into action. As if your faith is what keeps this big, blue marble spinning around the sun. As if you know without any doubt that today will be a good day to be above ground. And in doing that something amazing happens…your faith grows, your hope lives on, and your heart fills with belief. Because faith is not something you just have, it needs to be exercised and practiced day after day after boring, mundane day. Sing loud, sing strong, sing as if nothing else matters. Be that little bird that dares to act even without knowing what the day will bring.