I think ‘calling birds’ fits with the understanding of these birds as the four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of these men both fulfilled their calling by writing the Gospels and in that record issued a Call to each person down through the centuries to respond to the Call of God on our life. 
Matthew was called by Jesus from his job as a tax collector. He was also known as Levi. It is unclear if he was martyred. His ministry may have been in Ethiopia. In icons Matthew holds his Gospel and is often accompanied by an angel. Scholars say that his gospel was addressed to Jewish readers.
It is not entirely clear who Mark was. Probably he was one of the companions of Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journeys. He is revered as the founder and first Bishop of the Church in Alexandria, the first church in Africa. Mark was martyred in 68AD by being dragged behind horses. He is symbolized in paintings and icons with a book and lion. 
Luke, surprisingly enough, was a Greek not a Hebrew man. He was also a physician. His Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles were written for a more Gentile audience than the other three Evangelists. From the book of Acts, it can be inferred that he was a companion of Paul. A bull is often used in iconography with Luke.
St. John is usually considered to be the “Beloved Disciple” who leaned close to Jesus at the Last Supper. His ministry was in Palestine until the Dispersion of the Jews in 70AD. He was exiled to Patmos (where he received the vision that became Revelation). The Book of Revelation and three Epistles were also written by John. His symbolism includes a cup of wine with a snake rising out of it, based on the tradition that when he was offered poisoned wine, the poison was drawn out of it by his prayer. While we probably won’t write a gospel, we ARE called to be ‘Good News’ to those who have never read the Bible. Remember ‘Gospel’ means ‘good news’. It is our actions that really tell the story, don’t they? What story is your life telling others?
Recently I ran across discussion about whether these birds were ‘calling’ or ‘colly’ birds. There apparently isn’t really a bird named the ‘calling bird’, but a ‘colly bird’ is an old English name for blackbirds. So the argument goes that the intention was to sing colly bird and it got distorted to calling bird.
Blackbirds can be interesting. This past summer I watched a family drama play out in the neighbor’s yard with a baby grackle, a type of blackbird. The little guy fell out of his nest and it took a couple of weeks for mom to encourage him to learn how to fly. He fared better than many of the little birds who fall out of the grackle nests (and many do each summer). Because of his mother’s care, he survived and learned to fly. Her loving attention reminded me of the way God encourages us to ‘try our wings’ and provides nourishment until we are strong enough to take off.In what ways is God calling you to tell the Good News?
See you tomorrow on the 5th Day.
