On Wednesday night I came home tired and climbed the stairs to hear a flapping sound. One of these had got into my kitchen and was flying around. I took the window panes out but the bird continued to fly around. After half an hour of trying to catch it I began to despair. I was beginning to wonder if the only way would be to kill it. (As I tried to identify it on the internet and in a bird book, I found out that in Canada, it is one of three birds not protected by law.)The house sparrow, Latin name passer domesticus, isn't meant to live inside a house and definitely is not a pet! This bird is a problem in North America destroying the eggs of native birds to seize their nests. It isn't even native to North America. How was I to get it out? I'd tried using a box and plastic bin. As I desperately looked for a solution the two of us were getting tired. The bird was trying to crawl along the edge of the wall and countertop. I threw an old towel over it. It didn't have enough strength to struggle. It complained as I trapped it in the towel. But as I threw it from the window it flew off. It's flying instincts took over.
The bird could have easily flown out the window if it had been willing to fly lower down and not at ceiling height and secondly if it could face the darkness outside. Recently I've been listening to those for whom God's presence seemed more distant, they were flying lower down. I shared that growth involves times of deeper trust and sometimes it is a dark trust, a trust without vision, a flying in the dark knowing it is better here than where you were.
We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Cor 5:7-8