Not even a sparrow falls…….Yesterday it must have been not even a siskin falls…… Whilst getting ready to go out into the snow to take the dog for her much needed walk, there was a large bang at the window. A siskin had lost its way and tried to take a shortcut through the kitchen. At first glance it appeared to be dead, all forlorn lying in the snow, but then I saw one bright eye looking up at me as if to say “What happened?” Him Behind the Wheel did the necessary and lifted the poor creature onto the roof of the dog kennel, out of harm's way. I fully expected to come back and find it expired.
What joy! When we returned there was no sign of the siskin. And the cat was safely indoors. So unless a buzzard had braved the weather and the nearness to habitation, I can only assume the bird had recovered and flown away. It makes me happy to think so anyway. But it does lead me onto other theological rambling; for instance, what about all the birds that won't make it in this weather……and what about the thousands of people starving in Niger? I believe in the God of Love, but obviously this kind of arbitrary poverty troubles many people in their quest for spirituality. When you are poor and starving, there is little energy for philosophising. The stock answer is that God knows, God cares and he asks us to be part of the answer. A sobering thought for the start of Advent tomorrow.