“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”   Gen 1:31

And, as we’ve learned, sometimes it is good to eat!

When the yellow blur flew past our window, I grabbed my binoculars.  A summer tanager, a bird that should not be in out desert climate, was perched in a bush. She moved from her perch, but stayed away from the birdbath.  Then my husband observed, “She’s eating the bees!”

A month earlier, trimming bushes, we’d encountered a nest of native bees and carefully worked around them. Researching summer tanagers, we discovered that bees and wasps are their main food source. Inadvertently, we’d ‘saved’ one species only to have it become the food for another. The summer tanager stayed with us a couple of days then, rested and nourished by the bees, she continued her migration.

Both amazed and stunned by what we’d witnessed, we ponder and wonder — and live in the mystery and balance of creation.

Prayer:  Lord, may we always give nature its due place in your world and be thoughtful in our actions–for we do not know how they ripple through creation.  Amen.

Deaconess Katrina Martich, Spokane, WA