A Helping Hand

I saw nothing and leaned down to see if I could pick it up. I waited to see if it would try to get away, but it didn’t. Instead, it became very still as I slid my hand under its little body and lifted it to my chest.

I checked to see if it broke a leg or wing, but it wasn’t. It looked like the little bird had been attacked.

I held it close to my heart for a while and remembered the scripture I learned as a child, “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.”

I knew if I put it back on the pavement or in the grass, something would come along and eat it, so I decided to place it in a pot of beautiful flowers sitting next to the door. It didn’t look like it would survive, so I wanted the little bird to rest in a beautiful, quiet place.

When I came home that evening, the little sparrow had died.

So many times, we feel the unconditional love of God through other people who pass through our lives. So when I loved the little bird that day, I knew I loved it for God, its creator.

Often, at the most painful and frightening times, God sends someone to pick us up, comfort us, stand beside us, or lead us. That is what I believe he meant when he said not even a sparrow would fall and that he would not see it.

I remembered this story today because I heard something in my chimney fluttering frantically. I called my husband, and we opened the door to our fireplace to see what it could be. We couldn’t see anything.

Sometimes birds resting or nesting atop the chimney wander inside it, unable to fly back up to escape.

He said it was probably a bird and would get out through our fireplace entrance or back up the chimney from whence it came.

I listened for a while and asked God to help the bird see its way out, and then I thought about how I could help. I couldn’t get into the chimney, I couldn’t see it, but suddenly I thought about a flashlight. Maybe I could see it then.

I shined the light up the chimney but couldn’t see the bird, but I could hear the chirping. I sat back down in my chair and waited. Suddenly there was another flutter and then no more. The bird had seen the exit when I flashed light and found its way down the chimney.

I opened the door to the fireplace. Sitting there in the ashes was a frightened little Black-capped Chickadee hoping and waiting to be set free.

When we are lost or in a dark place, it is good to have someone shine the light and show us the way to safety.

It only takes a tiny bit of light to make a difference in our homes and the world in which we live. But, first, we have to be willing. We can do that with a word, a touch, a listening ear, or a helping hand.