I have a
friend from olden days named Ronald Tipton. He does a Blog entitled
"Retired in Delaware". (http://retiredindelaware.blogspot.com/) We
met in third grade and I counted him as one of my best friends growing up. We
were parted by time and distance for several decades, but reunited via the
Internet in 2001. He was not the only friend from that period who I
reunited with via cyberspace. The other is Stuart Meisel, anything but retired
in Florida.
(Photo l. to r.: The Author, His Florida Friend & Retired in Delaware, 1957)
There is a
bond between that is unexplainable, which I believe is the case with most truly
close friends. There is much in our history, our roots and our makeup we share.
I cannot imagine life without these two as friends. When friends pickup after
four decades apart without communication where they left off those many years
ago it speaks of the magic and mystery of friendship.
The
"Retired in Delaware" Blog certainly presents a worldview different
than Weeping a Night; Rejoicing a Morning
does. But sometimes you see further when you see different views. I don't have
to totally agree with a friend to love him or her and I would hope my friends
would feel the same. I pray for my friend often, because prayer and
Christianity are cornerstones of my worldview, and this is a way I can show
concern for the well-being of my friend's soul as well as body. I hope he takes
no offence at this. If I wished to be offensive, I would leave him out of my
prayers, which would be the same as discarding him into a field as some would
discard the eggs of a House Sparrow.
He once
wrote a moving post about just that happening. I will not give the details, go
to his site and read his post. It is sad that a creature can become as despised
as the House Sparrow has become to some. It is not entirely the bird's fault,
but a good example of "the road to hell being paved with good
intentions". The House Sparrow is one of the most populous birds in North
America, but at one time it didn't even exist here. It is not indigenous to
this part of the world, but was common in Europe and Asia. In 1851, Brooklyn,
New York was infested with little green worms and some one got the bright idea
that bringing some House Sparrows over from England would help. It was believed
House Sparrows liked to feast on little green worms. No one apparently
investigated the House Sparrows ability to reproduce or their aggressive
nesting habits. Now to many these rather cute little birds are considered a
pestilence long after the little green worms have disappeared.
I think we
three old friends from long ago have felt like House Sparrows at one time or
another in our lives. Ronald, Retired in Delaware, is Gay and there are many
who would have squashed his egg in the nest too.
Stuart, my
Florida friend is Jewish and as a boy lived in a decidedly non-Jewish town, and
there were those who would have discarded him in a field if they could.
I am
blatantly Christian and that is rapidly becoming politically incorrect and many
view my kind as a pest that needs to be controlled as well.
The Bible
speaks of the sparrow in more encouraging terms than the Birdman mentioned in
my friend's Blog.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young--
a place near your altar...Psalm 84:3
In ancient
Jerusalem the sparrows and the swallows used to find shelter and nest in the
corners of the Temple and were allowed to do so. No matter how lowly a creature
we may be perceived in the eyes of men, we can find comfort in the sanctuary of
God if we come.
And those
of us who say we trust in the Lord need to take comfort with those House
Sparrows so callously thrown aside for the preference of birds that sing a more
pleasing song to some ears.
"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed
that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell
you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim
from the roofs. Do not be afraid
of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the
one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 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. And even the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. So don't be
afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:26-31
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