Good morning…
Walking our dog, I noticed a dead cardinal in the grass beside the sidewalk. Such a gorgeous bird. Brilliant red. Lying motionless. Dropping our dog back at home, I picked up a dust pan, hopped in the car and returned to the bird.
Scooping this beauty into the dust pan with a stick, I took the intricately colored creature to a shady spot in the middle of an alcove of bushes. Laying him to rest, I softly blanketed him with pine straw.
Caring for this cardinal in the midst of one ordinary day, I am reminded of the purpose for which we are all designed. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground” (Genesis 1:26, NLT).
Walking our dog, I pass by this burial bush each day. The joy of the LORD rises up in me every time. What a privilege it is to do small, hidden things with God’s gentle love. I am reminded of a Bible story that describes this peaceful pace of life.
Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”
But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children… (Genesis 33: 12-14, NIV).
Walking in step with the Spirit, some of us are called to move along slowly at the pace of the flocks before us and the pace of the children.
…Sue…
