Welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread.

I'm Wyn Collier and I wrote today's piece titled Better Together.

Soren Sulkare spent years photographing starlings in their breathtaking spectacle,

murmurations, where hundreds of thousands of starlings

move in fluid motion across the sky.

Watching this marvel is like sitting underneath an orchestrated swirling wave, where a massive

dark brushstroke flowing into a kaleidoscope of patterns.

In Denmark, they call this Starling experience Black Sun, also the title of Sulkire's stunning book of photographs. Most remarkable is how Starlings instinctively followed their

nearest companion, flying so close that if one were to miss a beat,

they'd suffer mass calamity.

However, starlings use murmurations to protect one another.

When a hawk descends, these tiny creatures enter tight formation

and move collectively,

beating back a predator who'd easily pick them off if they were alone.

We're better together than we are alone.

Two are better than one, Ecclesiastes says.

If either falls down, one can help the other up, and if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

Alone, we're isolated and easy prey.

We're exposed without the comfort or protection of others.

But with companions, we give and receive help.

The one may be overpowered, Ecclesiastes says.

Two can defend themselves.

...