Fear of Birds?

Male Budgie  © singeronthesand 2011

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,

and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.

Genesis 1:20

At some point in her young life, my middle daughter developed a phobia about birds.  Apparently this has something to do with her younger sister and dead birds in the yard, but her fear of birds is very real to her.  Even now as an adult, she will not willingly go near a bird, and she will not eat chicken, turkey, or any other form of bird.

I, on the other hand, grew up with birds in the house as pets.  My mother loved budgies [we used the term “parakeets], and there was at least one of these adorable birds gracing our home all through the years of my childhood.  If the bird was out of its cage, all I had to do was call its name and hold out a finger, and the little creature would swoop down and perch on my hand.  Walking around the house with a budgie on finger, head or shoulder was a common occurrence for me and my two brothers.

One of the reasons my mother loved parakeets is their ability to learn to talk.  Like a parrot, a budgie can be taught to mimic human speech.  My mother was amazingly good at teaching our birds to chatter away, saying over and over again the little phrases they had learned.  With gentleness, determination, and vast patience, Mom would work and work and work with a bird until it finally chirped its first words.

How I would love to have been in the original Garden created by God, holding out my hand to a vast variety of birds, encouraging them to swoop down for a visit.  For now, however, I will content myself with an occasional foray into the world of budgies, awaiting the time when God will again make all things new; when my bird friends will have no fear of humans, and I can chat with them to my heart’s delight.