The Canary

I have never owned a canary, but my sister has one. He is your classic yellow bird with a tremendous capacity to make a lot of noise! He squeeks, squirks, sings and throws his seed all over the floor -a truly enjoyable pet!

His cage is happily situated in the kitchen where we often sit having a cup of tea and a chat. Naturually we often find ourselves engrossed in different topics of conversation only to discover that our yellow companion joins in! More often than not the bird tends to "out talk" us becoming loud and squirky or simply singing at the top of his lungs! Often we only realize this when we have raised our voices to such a pitch as to hear ourselves over the bird!!!! It´s quite funny actually even though we mutter a somewhat frustrated "shut up" under our breath!

One day, not so long ago, our dear canary friend was strangely quiet. He was still and silent inside his cage and did not join in our conversation or burst into song.

Canaries stop singing for several reasons. They may not sing if they are in the cold or if they are ill. But one of the causes that really caught my attention was that they also stop singing when the molt. This usually happens once a year during the summer and can last between 6 - 8 weeks.

The canary is loosing it´s plummage .... and stops singing. It is stripped and doesn´t find anything to sing about.

Right now I find myself feeling like that molting canary. I feel "stripped" and discouraged and have lost my song.

I wish that I wasn´t writing such a "low" post, but I can't muster what isn´t there into being and felt I needed to be transparent! I am hoping that this time of molting...which I do believe that God is using inspite of the present pain and discomfort I am living... will soon pass.