But Birds don’t have Mortgages…
“But birds don’t have mortgages or lilies of the field have car payments.”
That was the caustic response from a very anxious woman I was counseling a few years ago.
Jane was a single parent with two small children. She was laid off with no warning. She had no family in this country. She began visualizing her utilities being shut off, her car being repossessed, being evicted, and having no money to put food on the table for her children. She felt hopeless, homeless, and was in a panic mode.
After listening to her endless woes, and saying a few other words of comfort, I tried the Bible on her, quoting Mt. 6:26: “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?”
Jane’s total dismissal of this verse (which by btw, is a foundational truth of my life), made me think. Is she right? Or is Jesus right? Why would Jesus say something so trite like this as comfort in a terrible situation?
We don’t usually stop to look at the birds. We don’t hold bird watchers in high esteem. Some think it is a silly, unproductive activity. The phrase, “it is for the birds” refers to something that is meaningless and useless. The idiom “bird brain” refers to a person who lacks intelligence or makes stupid decisions.
So, why would Jesus, who is a perceptive teacher, advise his followers to look at the birds? As someone who loves Jesus deeply and takes his words seriously, I decided to look at the birds.
First, I tried an exercise by making a list of names of birds. My list included: parrots, chickens, crows, ducks, penguins, peacocks, flamingos, and eagles. I couldn’t even come up with names of ten kinds of birds. Then I searched google. There are more than 10,000 species of birds in the world and about four billion individual birds.
My curiosity increased as to why Jesus would ask us to look at the birds and learn from them. I happened to find a copy of an old National Geographic magazine on a coffee table in an Assisted Living Facility I visit for my hospice job.
The cover had pictures of birds with the title: Epic Migrations.
The article was about the incredible journey birds make across the globe. It described the Canadian seagulls who migrate to New Mexico every year. When snow falls in the northern part of Canada, the worms and other creatures go underground, so the birds migrate to hotter climates for food.
The article focused on a species of birds called the godwits who fly from Alaska to New Zealand every year, about 7000 miles. What is astonishing and almost miraculous is that they don’t stop on the way. Yes, for 8 or 9 days these birds fly non-stop, flapping their wings the entire way; that is more than a quarter of the way around the world. When they arrive in New Zealand they are emaciated. They fatten up before the return journey to Alaska. First, they would fly about 6000 miles and spend about 6 weeks along a coastline between China, and North Korea, feeding and resting before flying another 4000 more miles to Alaska.
Wildlife biologists with the US Geological Society have tracked the routes of these birds. They captured a small number of godwits, implanted satellite transmitters inside an air sac in their abdomens, leaving the antenna sticking out.
Where do they go? How can they fly as far as they do? How are they able to find their way to the same winter and summer sites year after year?
The ordeal of flying nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand is hard to comprehend.
Try this exercise. Stand up and extend your hands and start moving them around and see how long you can do that. Now try to do that for eight days straight. The arm flapping simulations may not be the perfect analogy, because flying to birds is what is walking to humans…but still you get the idea.
Let me quote the last paragraph of the article which describes the scene before their departure from New Zealand.
When I read this, my soul swells with joy, my eyes fill with tears, and I experience a sort of mystical delight.
For hours, biologist Conklin trained his telescope on the godwits. Some continued to roost. Others foraged nearby, dripping their bills into the mud. The sun mellowed as the afternoon progressed. Then one of the godwits began making a loud, high-pitched call. Other godwits responded with similar calls. A couple of godwits flew over and joined the group. I don’t know if they were communicating real info like, (you like the wind now?) Or if they keep the chatter going to collect all the birds that want to go. Close to sunset, the calling got louder and then all at once, the godwits took off. He adjusted his telescope to follow them, he counted ten in all, and they made a rapid ascent over the estuary, flying out toward the ocean first in a jumble and eventually sorting into a V formation. Conklin watched them until they disappeared into the pale blue sky. (National Geographic March 2018, p. 58)
Birds migrate to escape conditions that threaten their survival. They don’t rely solely on their power. They take advantage of winds. They tend to leave Alaska on the tail end of storms that produce winds blowing south. They leave almost the same day every year, without checking a calendar or a watch.
They have an inner knowing about timing, location, and flying route. It seems like these migratory behaviors are written into their genes.
Speaking of birds, have you ever wondered like Leonardo Da Vinci, why the woodpecker’s tongue is three times longer than its bill? When not in use, it retracts into the skull and wraps around the jaw. In addition to digging out grubs from a tree, the tongue protects the brain. When the bird smashes into the wood, the force is ten times the force that would kill a human. But its bizarre tongue and supporting structure act as a cushion, shielding the brain from shock!
While reading that article, I had to stop several times to close my eyes to meditate and wonder about the precision and care God/Universe has taken to create the birds, implanting within them survival mechanisms.
How did God create them with such resilience, tenacity, and strength? If God created a bird like that, what about me who is created in the image and likeness God?
Slowly I began to understand why Jesus asked his followers to look at the birds. I had tears flowing down my cheeks.
In fact, every creature has the Creator’s meticulous attention and imprint. Have you ever watched anthills and the movements of ants, which may appear chaotic to us but there is a pattern and a plan imprinted on them by God?
In fact, the divine choreography is all over creation for those who have eyes to see it. It is miraculous and divine, worthy of awe and adoration.
God or the Universe has placed within us an inner system which we are supposed to use to navigate the treacherous landscape of life.
In automobiles it is called the engine.
In computers, it is called the operating system.
In cellphones it is called the sim card.
If the engine does not work, the car is useless. If the operating system is not operating, the computer is worthless. If the sim card is absent or damaged, the phone is unusable.
Similarly, if our inner system is not working, we are going to live unhappy, unfulfilled, sad, angry, and fearful lives. Unfortunately, that is the case with most people, because of the ignorance of the existence of this inner operating system. Or they don’t trust the system and use it. They don’t know how to rely on it or live by harnessing its power. They look for answers, relief, and remedies outside, which they are not going to find. And so, life becomes a struggle in this vale of tears.
The inner system or the operating system of your life is also known as your soul or the divine image within you. That is why Jesus said, the Kingdom of God is within you. Once you start operating your life using the power of that inner system, you will experience your current life differently, despite its challenges.
Or as Eckhart Tolle says:
“Your life situation may not change, but your life will change.”
(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)
