SCAPEGOAT HILL BAPTIST CHURCH – JULY 2024 NEWSLETTER
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]? Matt 6:26-27
I think a good number of us enjoy looking at the birds in our gardens, and do what we can to encourage visits from our feathered friends by keeping the bird feeders well supplied. And not just any old bird food will do. I bought a big sack of mixed food by mistake – I thought it was sunflower hearts at a good price – silly me! The birdies just ignored all our feeders and went next door! In the end we had to dump it in the bin and buy some proper sunflower hearts. Also different birds have different favourites and needs; niger seed, meal worms, peanuts, fat balls etc.
They all feed in different ways too – which benefits one another. Some, like the Blue tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits are quite confident in jumping on the feeders and come independently whereas Long-tailed Tits fly in in a group and are more circumspect – “we’re sticking together”. The finches are different, Goldfinches and Greenfinches are happy on the feeders, Bullfinches come in pairs but Chaffinches like to be on the ground – as do Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds, alongside the odd sparrow, dunnock etc. The Doves just wait for food to be delivered onto their windowsill. But all the birds that mug the feeders benefit those who eat off the ground because of all the bits that fall to the floor. The one that makes his presence felt the most is Mr Pheasant who stands on the bird bath and eats voraciously from any feeder within reach, looking at us through the window. The two visitors that cause the most trouble are 1) Cyril the Squirrel who can knock a feeder off the stand, and 2) Madge the Badger who pulls off any feeders attached to the window and flattens the stands holding the feeders. Then it’s a cleaning up job that all the birds enjoy!
This all made me reflect how God knows each one of us, knows our needs, knows our foibles, knows how to feed US. We are not all the same, we need support, help, encouragement in differing ways. How dreary it would be if there was only one type of bird in our gardens. And the closer we look at even the plainest bird we can see the beauty our Creator God put in each one. How dreary church would be if there was only one kind of Christian. It leads us back to being part of the body, all unique, yet together we make up the whole. Often the birds, from smallest to largest, are hypervigilant, fearful, looking out for danger or threat. To look at our world, even our own country at this time, we could do likewise. But we are called to lift our eyes upwards to our Heavenly Father, to let Him be our Rock, our Provider, our Fortress.
“See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?” Matt 6:29-30
As we (hopefully) enjoy the beauty of creation over these summer months, let’s lift our eyes beyond that and give thanks and praise to our Creator God.