The author of today's reading on nature’s secrets and bounties, Annie Dillard describes herself as coming from "lapsed Presbyterian" stock. She grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, where our kind were the dominant life-form. (Some have joked that Presbyterians are "denser" in Pittsburgh than anywhere else. ) She converted to Catholicism in her twenties and now describes herself as a "Hasidic Christian," her meditations on the natural world having led her to unite Jewish mysticism with Christian spirituality.

Each of us is on a "spiritual journey," and we tend to flock with our own kindred. Only when we are feeling secure in our own identity can we move from anxious flapping at every perceived threat to a more patient and observant posture. Like the "die-hard" third wave of red-wing blackbirds Dillard describes, we can watch as things develop and perhaps learn more from observing those who are different from us.