Perched above the pussy willows, he fairly glows with joy.              

His slate gray plumage changes hue as he looks around the yard. Early, at the break of daylight, he begins to sing. Not a long warble or trilling song, but instead he lets out the screeching call of a blue jay, followed by the questioning cry of a gold finch, a phoebe, then the chirp of a sparrow.        

After that comes the sound of a swallow, an angry robin, a warbler singing.

In between each bird’s pirated song is a tuneless melody of sing-song chirps and squawks. At the end of the string of sounds, the bird pauses. Then he lets out his own call. It sounds more like a cat’s incessant meow than a bird song.

The sun brightens the dew drops on the pussy willows and shines on the blackness of the catbird’s poll. During his next melody, he adds the chatter of a squirrel to the routine, along with a happy robin, the croak of a frog, the startling cry of a red-winged blackbird.

Whatever the catbird listens to he mimics for the world to hear. He repeats his cycle of calls at the top of his lungs for most of the day, refining them as he hears the songs of those he copies.

We often copy the things we hear as well, retelling stories, recycling phrases. We like to imitate those of whom we think highly, and sometimes those we want to ridicule. Younger siblings love to copy big brothers and sisters. Toddlers love to hear the reason “why.” We have to be careful what we repeat because gossip can turn ugly fast, and words used to hurt cannot be taken back.

Philippians 4:8 says that “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

What we let into our minds through our ears is hard to forget. Are the things we listen to worthy of repeating? Are the things we hear worth being dwelt upon? Often the things in our minds come out in our actions and
attitudes.

Ephesians 5:1 says that we should “be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

Be sure to copy the One who says things that are worth hearing, and repeating.