Commuting Is for the Birds

A sparrow was strangely attracted to a car in Pittsford, New York. Through a small hole in the floorboard, it managed to build its nest and laid three eggs in the car's trunk. No one knows where the fledglings were hatched, because the owner of the car commuted forty miles each day, unaware of the nestlings in the trunk, who were somehow fed by the enterprising mother sparrow.

Imprinted into the tiny sparrow's brain is its incredibly complex, neurochemically based instinct, enabling it to adjust to varying surroundings (even adapting to a forty-mile-daily commute!), and survive for unnumbered centuries as one of countless species.

Reminiscent of Jesus' teaching, there's a lesson here - and it's not for the birds, but for us worrisome children of a loving provident Father. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father....You are worth more than many sparrows" (Mt 10:29, 31). "They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, who do you worry about the rest?" (Lk 12:24-26; Mt 6:26-27).

That same God who spares sparrows lovingly takes care of your and me. So why should we worry? Let's simple "let go and let God."

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net