“So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life? Matthew 6:25-27 Living Bible (TLB)
We’ve always had bird feeders in the winter. Even before the leaves fall, the birds in the bushes are asking each other, “Isn’t this where that great buffet was last year? Wonder when they are going to open.”
The feeders go up, the mob arrives. Sparrows, chickadees, juncos, mourning doves, and woodpeckers visit. No one goes away hungry (and if they do, it’s their own fault!).
The sparrows are funny. They arrive in a flock, jostle for space, peck at each other, chirp loudly, flick seed all over, and then, as though at a signal, scatter in flight. Are they afraid? Of what? The lone downy woodpecker at the suet looks up, sees nothing, seems to shrug and goes back to feeding. And the sparrows return to do it again.
Proverbs 28: 1a says, “The wicked flee though no one pursues.” But sparrows are not wicked, just bird-brained. And apparently hyper-focused on self-preservation!
But as I watch, amused, I think about how easy it is to “follow the crowd” in fear. Scary things must be true, especially if on the Internet. Everything on the Internet is true, right? (Just kidding!) Fear provokes a fight or flight (or freeze) response, but with no imminent physical danger, people fret and worry themselves sick.
There’s a poem I remember from childhood:
Said the robin to the sparrow,
“I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”
Said the sparrow to the robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be,
That they have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me.” (Elizabeth Cheney (1859-?)
(Clearly, that particularly wise sparrow isn’t visiting my feeders!)
Will all your worries add a single moment to your life? (v 27) No, and worry ultimately subtracts peace and joy.
I know which I’d prefer. How about you?