Even a sparrow ...

Solitary sparrow at Ben Gurion airport - 2010

There were feathers on the stairs when I got back from shopping. No little corpse, no blood, just feathers. I went looking for the culprit and soon found Pickles, her tail thrashing,  paying very close attention to something underneath the coffee table in the lounge.

I eased myself down onto the floor and followed her line of sight ... there was the sparrow  ... startled, shocked, but alive. Now what? Scooped up protesting cat, closed lounge door, grabbed a  container and paper towel from the kitchen. It took a little while, but eventually I managed to gather the trembling sparrow in my hand, pop it into the container and secure the lid.

Off to the vet down the road. 'Cat versus sparrow' I said and she held out her hands.

As I drove home I remembered two other sparrows  - the first was the one in the picture above taken when I was waiting for my flight back to London after 3 amazing weeks in the Holy Land. This little opportunist enjoyed both  the crumbs left by busy travellers, and the chance to splash in the fountain pool. Watching her antics calmed my pre-flight nerves.

The second sparrow comes from scripture - Luke 12.6 : 'Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.' What a statement Jesus is making here. Nothing is beyond God's care and concern, not even the smallest creature going about its unremarkable day.

When we encounter forces that seem unstoppable, be they political, economic, spiritual or relational, reminding ourselves that God remembers the sparrow in all its common simplicity, can encourage us to trust that God remembers us - you and me - the little ones of the earth. We are always in God's mind - may God always be in ours.