During these eight weeks of confinement we have had many reasons to go out on our little, fourth floor kitchen balcony — the daily clap for sanitary personnel at 8pm, to get some fresh morning air with a cup of coffee, or just to drink in the green scenery. But there is another neat little pleasure I’ve been able to enjoy, and it has to do with the various birds flying around outside.
One kind I often see are the blackbirds, hopping around in the freshly cut grass as they look for any unfortunate worm that happens to stick its head out. There are also many kinds of finches, each with their peculiar colors, flight pattern, and song. Sometimes I’m able to watch the acrobatic swallows, as they dive around in pairs, at times flying straight towards the building before veering off in the last second. Several turtle doves have apparently adopted our neighborhood this spring, and they add to each morning and evening their soft and melancholy coos. And I definitely cannot forget the blue heron, skimming the top of the trees that line the river, as it heads down the valley, flapping its wings ever so slowly, as if it didn’t have a care in the world.
Each of these uniquely beautiful creatures goes about its business as usual, enjoying the experience their Maker has designed for them, with absolutely no concern for the Coronavirus.
How different from the human beings that are all around them.
Interestingly, it is exactly these little animals that Jesus points to as an example for us in times of crisis. It doesn’t matter that they don’t have our brain or that they can’t reason through the dangers of the pandemic. The fact is, they were made by a God who follows their lives, cares and provides for them, and knows exactly when and how they die. We who have self-consciousness and so much more cognitive ability, are supposed to learn from them.
The Lord asked the question, “Aren’t you of more value than birds?” It was a rhetorical question for his anxious disciples, and no verbal answer was expected. But, it did and does call for a response, though it be just a physical one: a bowed head that acknowledges its lack of faith.
May God help us to learn the lesson of trust and peace, even if the birds must be our teachers.
Matt. 6:26, 10:2
One kind I often see are the blackbirds, hopping around in the freshly cut grass as they look for any unfortunate worm that happens to stick its head out. There are also many kinds of finches, each with their peculiar colors, flight pattern, and song. Sometimes I’m able to watch the acrobatic swallows, as they dive around in pairs, at times flying straight towards the building before veering off in the last second. Several turtle doves have apparently adopted our neighborhood this spring, and they add to each morning and evening their soft and melancholy coos. And I definitely cannot forget the blue heron, skimming the top of the trees that line the river, as it heads down the valley, flapping its wings ever so slowly, as if it didn’t have a care in the world.
Each of these uniquely beautiful creatures goes about its business as usual, enjoying the experience their Maker has designed for them, with absolutely no concern for the Coronavirus.
How different from the human beings that are all around them.
Interestingly, it is exactly these little animals that Jesus points to as an example for us in times of crisis. It doesn’t matter that they don’t have our brain or that they can’t reason through the dangers of the pandemic. The fact is, they were made by a God who follows their lives, cares and provides for them, and knows exactly when and how they die. We who have self-consciousness and so much more cognitive ability, are supposed to learn from them.
The Lord asked the question, “Aren’t you of more value than birds?” It was a rhetorical question for his anxious disciples, and no verbal answer was expected. But, it did and does call for a response, though it be just a physical one: a bowed head that acknowledges its lack of faith.
May God help us to learn the lesson of trust and peace, even if the birds must be our teachers.
Matt. 6:26, 10:2
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