Preaching to the birds

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell–and great was its fall.
Matthew 7:26-27 (NASB)

I suspect that most people who visit this blog are familiar with the preceding Bible verses, and their context, where Jesus warns against putting one’s trust into things without a firm foundation. He was, of course, not giving a lecture in architecture or civil engineering, and His intent was to address spiritual issues more than the mundane, practical things of life. But…that’s not to say that there are no practical implications to this parable.

It’s also quite possible to apply this principle to non-human undertakings, and if you substitute “bird” for “man,” and “front door wreath” for “sand,” and “West Texas winds” for – well, the parable does hit that one on the head – the logical conclusion might be this sad scene, which greeted us this afternoon after work.

We had not even noticed the nest in the wreath until a couple of days ago, and I hadn’t had a chance to see if there were eggs in yet (although I told Debbie that surely the birds hadn’t yet laid any). But, judging by the carnage on the concrete, there were at least five, and possibly six eggs of unknown avian origin. Very sad, but…really birds? What were you thinking?

The nest is intact, and the wreath has been re-hung (and more securely), so we’ll see if the parents were sufficiently traumatized that they’ll give up on this location. But perhaps they’ll try again. After all…Matthew 6:25-27.