Yellow-breasted Chat : Loss and Faith
Yellow-breasted Chat
This is a Yellow-breasted Chat. Today I get to see it. And hear it. And have my heart filled by it. Easily. And in just a few days, I won’t. They’re quite common here on this expedition, and I’ve even found where they tend to live at this particular park. I can approach it closely and focus on it intently. This kind of proximity isn’t always possible with birds, and the sense of intimacy here is meaningful in its own right. Soon I’ll be leaving to return home, and while home has its own attractions, I’ll certainly feel the lack of this morning’s interaction. I’ll feel an emptiness, missing starting my morning with this experience. This stunningly beautiful little bird, with its joyful song, today fills my heart - but for what I know is just a brief and fleeting moment.
King David depicts one of the Bible’s most powerful images in Psalm 27. He describes evil men, foes, and enemies all gathered around him. But as a man of deep faith, he knows - beyond hoping or even believing - that God will be there to protect him, to grant him victory. Many warriors might give us such an image. And then comes the image from a poet-king that only David’s unique genius could offer. He envisions his faith’s depth in a way that resonates with all of us, whether contemporaries or heirs millennia later. David exults that God will be there for him - even if his own mother and father reject him. Let that sink in. To be assured of God’s love, even in the face of the most visceral rejection, that is a whole other level of faith.
The loss of something we cherish can leave us feeling dejected, at a loss. It can be particularly difficult to release something you thought you would have forever. Knowing the end is coming: does that prepare us for the impending sting? Or does awareness of the upcoming loss impede current appreciation? Both are possible. Tradition teaches of “empty vessels.” An emptied cistern is valued because it can receive more water. But a person who accumulates knowledge and merit always possesses that ineradicable treasure. What we have loved and lost creates new opportunities even as it sustains us. The Chat and David together inspire persistent love, appreciation, and expectation even when we plumb the depths of painful loss.