Cheeping and Chirping

The little birds are beginning to leave the nests around here.  We have a great bird feeder in the back yard, so we have a thriving avian community in our neighborhood.  Yesterday one of the fledglings-- with barely enough wing feathers for flight and infant fuzz still on the breast--was sitting on the rail of our deck, right outside the patio door.

We feared that the poor thing had left home too soon and was doomed.  It preened a bit and then cheeped for all it was worth.  In a few moments, Mama appeared with something juicy in her mouth.  She fed her chick and flew off.  It wasn't long before the little one began to fidget again.  A few moments more and the cheeping resumed.  Then it became frantic.  Perhaps Mama wasn't going to return this time.

Such a small distance from comfort to catastrophe.

Of course, Mama did return with more food.  Strengthened and encouraged, the little bird then flew with no problems whatsoever to the branches of our apple tree.  We wish you well, little friend.

I watched that tiny bird, smaller than a golf ball, and thought about my life.  How long does it take me--feeling alone and abandoned, hungry and tired, in a strange setting and exposed--to begin chirping in panic?  Not very long, if I am to be honest.

Feed me!  Distract me!  Tell me things are fine!  But don't leave me naked to the uncertainties of life. Don't force me to wait very long for the goodies.  If I have to wait I'll start cheeping in panic and think that I'm going to die.  Most folks won't even admit this level of chronic anxiety to themselves, much less discuss it.

The mama returned over and over to feed the baby and calm the fears.  Is it any wonder that Jesus uses the image of a mother hen to describe his longing to love Jerusalem--but those babies were beyond recovery.  That can happen to us sometimes.  The habits of anxiety and panic become so familiar that we can't imagine any other way.  More than that we won't risk waiting to see if something good might happen.

As my CPE supervisor sometimes said, for some people bad breath is better than no breath at all.

So, Lord, when I start chirping give me first the grace to wait.  Give me the strength to resist panic in the shadow of doom.  The feeding will certainly come.  And then make me as grateful as a little bird.

(A small video of the birdie is on my Facebook page).