Sunday at church I was watching the people standing at the altar in front of me as we all together sang praises of our God. I watched a young women stand humbly singing as tears were streaming down her cheeks. I can only wonder at what was going on inside of her heart. I witnessed a sweet scene of a dad standing at the altar holding the hands of his two little children singing unto God together. The dad seems very intent on exampling the worship of their God. Alongside the three, was a small boy standing alone looking longingly at the dad. The look on his face was that of a hungry child, hungry for the love of a father. My heart went out to him. So small, very soon he would be old enough to attend school and have to face this big world, still hungry. At that time the pastor asked everyone to turn to the person next to them and pray for them. The father oblivious to the lone child turns grabbing the hands of his children and walks away to find their mother. I watched the family embrace, clasp hands and bow their heads in reverent prayer. My gaze returned to the small boy, he is standing alone. In my heart I felt his pain and wanted to fix his plight. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and a life time can pass thought your mind in a moment; what a serial feeling I experience as I got a glimpse into the lives of those around me. Just then a tall young man walked by me in pursuit of someone to pray for; I grabbed his arm as he passes by and pointed to the little boy alone at the altar. No words were used but the young man somehow understood. He turns and approaches the small boy. They could have been brothers by the looks of them but I know they don’t know each other by their body language. The young man was very tall and the small boy had to bend his head completely back to see the face of the young man. Bending down on one knee, the young man was still head and shoulders taller than the small boy. As this young man bent his head to look into the face of the boy I observed what I can only assume was consent for prayer. I them witnessed the young man rest his big hand on the little boys shoulder and spread out over his small frame. The little boy bowed his head in reverence and in replication of the young man bowing his head. The prayer was just long enough and the small boy raised his eyes to watch the young man pray for him. His little head nodded his agreement and his lips moved to amen. The young man uncurled his large frame and stood and patted the small boy on the head and walk away. I kept watching the small boy. He pulled himself up to a taller stance even to lift his chin ever so slightly higher and squared his shoulders. Then he ran to his mother. I don’t think the mom even knew what God did for her son that morning and what the young man prayed I will never know; but God does. I have worshiped at the altar many times but this tender moment and sweet innocent bouquet of God using his people as instruments of His love will always be fresh in my heart; because that day, I witnessed God respond to the silent cry of a little child’s heart.
This afternoon I looked out the second story window of my house to see about 200 robin redbreasts circling my yard. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Except in the movie by Alfred Hitchcock The Birds. Hundreds of birds were chirping loudly and flying around fluttering from the trees to the edge of my house top. The loud chirping captivated the attention of my cats and so we sat together and watched the activity through the window, it was like a video made especially for cats. They watched with enchanted attention their heads jerking predatorily to follow the fluttering movement. It was quite comical. Truly the best day of their lives! I wondered why the birds were in the yard and at such a great number. Then I realized they were eating the berries that were left on the tree in the center of my front yard. I don’t know the name of the tree, it is a big tree and very pretty. They look like a holy berry but the tree has fern like leave that fall off for winter and leave the berries. They look especially pretty with snow hanging on them. I always wondered why the berries didn’t fall off along with the leaves but instead cling to the branch even through a blistery winter and heavy snow; but now I know why. It is Gods way to feed the birds on their way back from winter break, because the bird’s standard cuisine is buried under frozen ground or snow. The Bible tells us that God takes care of the birds. This passage of scripture continues to say that God loves us even more than the birds, and that God knows what we need. I stood looking out the window marveling at this beautiful example of Gods unconditional love displayed by nature and I am once again reminded that God cares.
Of course there is a rub to the story. Enthralled in my cats delight and the chirping birds my spiritual moment unexpectedly fads away. As I look down from my vantage point into the yard I realize my darling son is trying to shoot one of these flying creatures with his pellet gun. Thank God he misses. Boys will be boys and God is still God.
Scripture reference: The Holy Bible. Mathew 6:25-35