I’ve been in several settings where this question sparks lively and helpful conversation.
But seriously… what is it?
For me, there’s a notable top five—but one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Tucked inside my “Exercise” folder (with only a tangential link to exercise) is the Merlin Bird ID app. Developed and updated by the Cornell Lab, it holds a resounding 4.9 user rating—though I’d love to meet the person who didn’t give it a 5.
The mission of the app is simple: identify birds through photos or bird calls. While I started with the photo ID function, I quickly shifted to audio identification.
Some mornings, when I go out to fill my bird feeders, I stand on my deck with the app open and simply watch as it “listens” to my aviary neighbors welcoming the day. It brings a kind of delight comparable to a child watching Saturday morning cartoons. (Do they still do that?)
Bird calls are like identification fingerprints—something our Creator must have taken great joy in designing. Perhaps that’s why the app lives in my Exercise folder: on the many hikes we take, I’m quick to pull out my phone to capture unfamiliar sounds.
Yes, I love this app because it aligns a sound with an identity. What comes out of the beak tells the listener what’s at the core of the creature.
If that sounds familiar, it should…
The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing,
but the mouth of a fool
belches out foolishness. (Proverbs 15:2, NLT)
The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking;
the mouth of the wicked
overflows with evil words. (Proverbs 15:28)
The words that flow from our lips expose the character of our hearts. No Merlin app required.
Vocabulary doesn’t create identity—it reveals it.
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. (Luke 6:45)
If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. (James 1:26)
Long before the iPhone or Cornell Lab, God established an identification system—for all His creation, and especially for His prized possession: us.
The difference between my feathered friends and image-bearers is that we have the capacity to build up or destroy with the sounds we make.
Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Like the song of birds, our words reveal—a heart exposed. Demolition or construction.
Steward them wisely. Evaluate them honestly.
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