I listened to the radio in the car yesterday and heard an interview with two Katrina survivors who’d returned home to New Orleans.

“It’s dark out here,” the man observed. “We only know one other neighbor besides us who’s come back.”

This husband and wife share a solitary light in their once-flooded home, powered by a generator. An electric fan cools the house for part of the day.

Every morning, the man enjoys getting out his walking stick and strolling several blocks. He stops to feed a few stray cats and dogs. “I can’t let them starve,” he said. “What’s a ten-pound bag of dog food?”

When asked if they felt lonely, the couple explained they were actually kind of enjoying the peace.

“We like the quiet now,” the woman said. “We can hear the sound of birds.”

Sure enough, the radio broadcast the glorious song of the birds they now hear.

Imagine that. Amid the devastation of everything they held onto: their home, their neighborhood, their dreams…they’ve come home and, for the first time ever, are enjoying the sound of birds.

This is why I write.

I want to help you hear the sound of birds. They’re there. But you can’t hear them usually. It’s so easy in our fast-paced lives to get busy and engulfed in noise that you forget the birds are there. It takes a quiet stillness to hear their song.

Whatever you have going on in your life right now: health problems, financial worries, depression, wayward children, relationship struggles…take a few minutes today and slow down. Pray.

And listen for the sound of the birds.