2020 Vision 08 - "The Ubiquitous Sparrow"
Date Published
2020 VISION – The Ubiquitous Sparrow
With the onset of spring and the expectation of a long quarantine, I decided to make my patio a bit of an oasis, adding lots of flowers, hanging baskets, and a nice shaded sitting area. Then last week I added a bird bath and hung a bird feeder in the crabapple tree. Of course, the feeder, though I filled it with seed intended for discriminating palates, attracted all the sparrows in a two-mile radius. But I waited patiently for those special birds, the ones with striking color and markings, those that give the breath-taking moments desired by all bird-watchers, those that usually have the sense to stay safely in the fields and woodlands, but which occasionally venture into a back garden to give us a thrill.
My first awe-filling arrival at the bird feeder was a pair of American goldfinches, so different from their English counterparts familiar to me. But mostly I have been keeping the sparrow population well fed and watered. Though a pair of ducks did venture by to enjoy the fallen left-overs.
I began to notice the differing kinds of sparrows that visit the feeder; the ones that sing, the ones that don’t. The ones the run, the ones that hop. The ones that flee when they see me, the ones that stay, curious, and even chatty. But they all have one thing in common. They are busy. They are industrious. So I have begun to appreciate sparrows and look forward to seeing my regulars.
God appreciated sparrows long before me. He created them. And Jesus says of them, “Sparrows…one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father…fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Who knew they were such delightful characters? Who knew they could teach us so much about our value to God? Not me, until quarantine changed my daily routine and focus.
2020 Copyright Pamela M Russell. All rights reserved.