Bringing Joy to the Heart and Soul

Yesterday, May 3rd, was International Dawn Chorus Day. It may be too late to do as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds advises and set our alarm 30 minutes (or an hour-and-a-half) earlier than usual and be up as the lark starts to sing. But tomorrow, or the day after, we still won’t heave missed it.

Or, though it’s not the same as being out there ourselves, we can enjoy the recordings on the RSPB website or with The Wildlife Trusts. I’ve been to the exact place where the RSPB made its You Tube, on ‘the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.’ I listened to the geese coming in to land and it was wonderful. I said my morning prayers there with the trees as my minyan and the birds as my leaders.

For once, at least, we can listen to something deeper, older and a million times more beautiful than the noise of all the angry, hate-filled words and murderous missiles of this crazy human world at war. For once, we can hear the whole world sing, and remember, and lay it to our hearts, that this is what we, and all creatures, truly live for.

Here is the Zohar on the subject of dawn, though the focus is less on the music of the birds, than of the spirit. But isn’t it, in the end, the same song?

Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Jose were on a journey together, and they arose early to walk by the light of the dawn. Rabbi Elazar said: ‘The time has now come for the morning stars to praise their Master and sing to Him. This is the meaning of “When the morning stars sang together and all the children of God shouted for joy,” (Job 38:7) for they all praise God together.’

Pre-dawn, says the Zohar elsewhere, is the hour of healing, when the archangel Raphael (whose name means “God heals”) is abroad in the world. I imagine the birds as his companions, singing to bring healing to a wounded world, singing to bring hope and joy to the over-tense mind and help us unfold the wings of our stymied souls.

And all we have to do is listen.

The dawn chorus is the symphony of song performed by birds looking for love, and to defend their patch. In spring, as the days lengthen, wildlife starts to think about the need to breed. For many male birds, this means belting out the well-worn but wonderful classics to try and attract females. Some species sing throughout the day, but it’s at dawn, as the morning light begins to break, that many different birds join together to perform. https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/the-dawn-chorus-all-you-need-to-know-about-natures-big-show