Welcome to St Swithins Church

By The Rev Matt earwicker

Villages - February 2026

I love listening to birds sing.

There is something I find very relaxing about those trills and tweets, the chirps and screeches. I know in my head that they are probably mating calls or warnings or challenges, but they make me feel that there is a world out there moving at a slower pace, just enjoying being alive. It reminds me to pause and take a breath and live.

The other day I was walking down The Street in the rain being treated to a complete symphony from the local kites, rooks and divers other species which as a child I had dreams of being able to recognise, but have had to accept my limitations. It felt like a particular gift because, for whatever reason, I thought birds waited until the rain stopped before recommencing their music. So it was an unexpected pleasure.

I usually try to write something encouraging or possibly pass on some wisdom I have heard from someone else, but as I write this the news is so chaotic and unpredictable that conventional wisdom feels a little useless. Much has changed in an incredibly short time, and the future promises so much more of the same that it makes my head spin sometimes.

Which got me to thinking about the birds and how they provide a welcome distraction from the craziness around.

I’m not the first to do so, of course. 2000 years ago on the hills of northern Israel, Jesus came to a world which was similarly chaotic, full of the clash of empires and noise of rebellion, where food and water supplies were unpredictable, and taxes made everyone cross. And to those worn out by worry he offered this advice:

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;… Is not life more than food…? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

There are things we can and should do for ourselves and for those around us, but sometimes we just need to stop and enjoy the fact that we are alive. Maybe you get a thrill from hearing a bird sing like I do, or maybe you are more excited to see a bulb emerge from the soil, or something else boosts your spirits. Jesus says that our Heavenly Father looks on us in that same way.

So next time you hear that bird or see that flower, and your heart warms and your spirits are raised, know that God is looking at you with just that same wonder, joy and affection.

Matt