I always find it fascinating what things seem to leap out
at me demanding my attention. This morning I walked by a box of photos I’m
scanning and sorting through. This one spoke to me.
I’m not sure where I took this or when. If it’s in paper
form, it’s got to be at least six or seven years old. Everything since then is
digital. I’m guessing it was taken somewhere here in Florida or perhaps during my
four years out in California given the flora.
But even as the images caught my attention, the small still
voice in my head softly said,
“Consider the birds of the air…. they
neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not of more value than they?... Therefore
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothing?” (words
attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 6)
They Were There All Along….
As I considered this I was reminded of two powerful moments
in my life. The first was the day of 9-11. It was a terrible day and I had
become so distraught by the images of towers collapsing and people fleeing the unfolding
disaster that I felt driven from my home into the local park along Lake
Underhill. As my husband and I walked the path of the lakeshore trying to make
sense of the insanity we were enduring, I suddenly noticed two things.
First the expectable ongoing roar that is the background to life in the heart of this medium sized urban center was strikingly silent. There were no airliners approaching the international airport nine miles to our south or leer jets coming into Orlando Executive just across the lake from where we walked. Traffic along the expressway which bisects the lake was almost completely absent.
The noise that we had come to take for granted was simply
missing.
A Familiar Voice….
The second powerful moment came years later as I visited
the basilica dedicated to St. Francis in the heart of the city which produced
him and his fellow mystic, Clare. As a Franciscan, this site is as close to a
Mecca in our tradition as one gets.
There in the upper chamber of the basilica was the famous 13th
CE mural of Francis preaching to the birds by Giotto. It is based on one of the
many legends of Francis and reflects his vision of himself as simply a part of the
larger natural world, his deep respect for its creatures and his willingness to
engage them on their own terms.
As I stood there I heard that familiar voice: “Consider
the birds of the air…”
Expectable Questions
To say that we are enduring times of deep turbulence is a
true understatement. These are the labor pangs of a new world that is coming
into being. The radical changes that will accompany the birth of this new world
have already begun to disrupt the world we knew even as recently as the
beginning of the current year. And many more are sure to come. In such times it
is quite easy to become frightened, to wonder “What shall we eat and drink,
what shall we wear, where shall we go?” In times of crisis, these are
expectable questions.
This day, I cling to the words of a man who knew radical
change in his own world and proved to be the source of even more change before
his all-too-brief life span was over.
“Consider the birds of the air….Do not worry.”
Those words and these images do not make the fearfulness of
pandemics, economic collapse and political tyranny go away. But if only for a
brief second, the reminder that we are not alone, that our Creator is always
present with us, as close as the very breath we breathe, is a badly needed comforting
thought. And, for the moment, that is enough.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Harry Scott Coverston
Orlando, Florida
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 comment:
Yes, one day I was officiating at a Eucharist at the far end of the Carceri grounds. A tiny Altar covered by a roofed and recessed stone building. The birdsong was amazing, the atmospere magical. First, before we began I asked everyone to focus on the birds and to let them inspire our praise. Then I called them back from the the relaxed and contemplative state they had fallen into, saying that now, it was their turn to pray as the birds had shown us. And yes, I was aware of something going on, as again they were transfixed on my leading of the service. We listened to the birds again before hearing the gospel. And I gave the sermon in the midst of a total silence.total silence. After ht service as we all walked away form the little altar. I came up behind those in the back. And they were in a state of awe. "Did you hear that? The birds all stoped singing, whenever Bernard began to speak?" I could only smile quietly behind them. But I can see how rumours spread so easily? I suspect that Francis also referred to the birds and their worship, inviting folk to be enraptured by it. And then looking them in the eye, began to speak to them with so deep a faith, that they were overwhelmed once again by wonder. Thanks for you input on FB.
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