Birds and words

This is a gentle mother dove who took up residence 

in a hanging basket outside our front door, 

in the summer of 2012.

Hope is on my mind these days.  Honestly, sometimes it's very hard to hold onto hope.

When you've been praying about something for over three years, maybe over four years, and things are worse instead of better, it's hard to hope.

And then somebody laughs at you and says, "Ha!  Three years is nothing.  I know people who have prayed about issues like this for over fifteen years.  You might even die, before this prayer is answered."

Which is true, of course.  It is not for me to demand a timeframe from God.  I must patiently endure this world and place my hope in His promises, His goodness, His love and mercy.  I must accept whatever He gives me, and trust that it is somehow for the best, because He is perfect and wise.  True things are not necessarily comfortable, and God is not primarily concerned with our comfort, although He is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort others in their affliction (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

May your unfailing love surround us, O Lord, for our hope is in you alone.

~Psalm 33:22

Ah yes.  Hope.

I looked up the Greek word for hope, and it is spero.  This put me in mind of the word sparrow, and I wondered how many birds are associated with love-joy-hope words.

[Is there a word for love-joy-hope words?  Are they virtues?]

Anyway, here's what I get:

Love:  The term "love birds" is fairly common, along with cute cartoons depicting two little birds posing together in sweet harmony.  There is an actual bird called the lovebird.  It's a genus of African parrot, and its scientific name is agapornos which comes from the Greek agape (love) and ornos (bird).

Joy:  This is totally out-on-a-limb from my own head, but I associate canaries with joy.  Brilliant yellow birds, they sing joyous songs.

Peace:  Doves have been a symbol of peace for as long as anyone can remember.

Hope:  As I already pointed out, Greek for hope is spero, so I think of the sparrow.

Faith:  I was surprised to learn that the phoenix has long been a Christian symbol of faith and constancy.  I usually associate the phoenix with the idea of resurrection, the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes.  How encouraging it is to couple the two ideas.  My faith, though tested severely, will come through each fiery trial, renewed like the phoenix, even stronger than before.