Now that Fall is upon us Winter is fast approaching with it’s cold winds, rain and snow, the trees have shed their leaves, all the flowers have died, and all have dropped their seed. It is a promise that new life will come forth in time from what is now dead and a reminder that we will again see those who have passed before us. It is a time of reflection, thanksgiving and communion with God as we wonder about the brevity of life. Walking up the steps of the garden path the lantern reminds us; “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119 - 105)
Recalling this past Summer how little Blackcap Chickadees built a nest in the center of a plant basket hanging from the eaves just outside the bedroom window.
My spouse delighted watching the birds taking turns keeping the tiny eggs warm that the female had laid. Soon there were little mouths to feed and the adults flew back and forth gathering things for the little ones to eat.
Finally it came time to try their wings as the little birds cascaded out of the nest spreading their wings just in time to land safely. Sadly though, one little bird crashed headlong onto the concrete patio below, his little beak moving as he gasped two or three times, closed his eyes and died. The mother bird returned to have one last look and flew away. We buried the tiny hapless creature and thanked the Lord for him brief as his life was. Pondering what had happened one has to consider the brevity of our own lives and of those loved ones who have passed before us, sometimes in an untimely death, the Lord comforts us with these words; “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? Look at 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? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? (Matthew 6: 25 - 27)
With these thoughts in mind perhaps this Thanksgiving season will be more meaningful to those who honor the Lord trusting in His lovingkindness toward us as we consider the following…
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
(Psalm 8: 1 - 9)
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