The Bird Funeral

Day four of the Gold Finch invasion of my front yard took a sad turn this morning. As I was on my way out to walk to the church office, I noticed one of the birds had died by the front door. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he crashed into the glass of the front door or if he'd been attacked by a cat or hawk. I'd like to think that he gave his last efforts in life defending the feeder from that "dang squirrel".

Last night, I led the Wednesday night crowd in a study of Matthew 24-25. We went through that long list of signs of the end of the age. Several could be viewed a threats. Some could be seen as natural events. All of them, though, must be interpreted as calls for Jesus' disciples to remain faithful, sharing the Good News to every corner of the earth until the end does come.

So, here on Thursday morning, I was presented with lab work based on Wednesday night's lesson. "Consider the birds of the air," Jesus said earlier in Matthew, "They don't grow crops or store grain in barns, but our Father in heaven cares for them." That point in the Sermon on the Mount is that God will take care of us also. We are called to remain faithful, and when we do we really are like the birds, doing what God created us to do without one worry.

I grabbed a shovel and headed out to the daylily patch. In a few months, the "lilies of the field" will be clothed in splendor just like the plumage this bird sported in summertime.

"Praise the Lord from the earth . . . wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!" (from Psalm 148). Overhead, a mockingbird sang every song he knew.