The last days of winter are here, and we are being blessed with birdsong–“the ecstasy of a lark in the sky; the music of a water-thrush when the sun comes out; the bell of a cuckoo that keeps ringing.”  So we ask the Source of all blessings to help us remember to join in with the songbirds and sing a song of gratitude for all the world to hear.

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  ~Song of Songs 2:12

Winston Churchill was born into a family with a history of mental illness, and he too suffered repeated bouts of depression and suspected bipolar disease.  Churchill’s name for his depression was the “Black Dog.”  Although not mentally ill, I suffer, like many, with dark moments once in a while, and so, after watching a movie about Churchill years ago, I came to call my struggles in the “dark” as rounds with the “black dog.”  As it turned out my daughter happened to call “at the meltdown moment” in yesterday’s most recent scuffle with the “black dog.”  She reasoned me back to a place in the light by reminding me that I had once told her that people choose to be part of darkness or a part of the light.  As God’s children we are called to be people who bring His light into a fallen world where the forces of darkness run rampant.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”   ~John 8:12