A Note from Tom: January 20th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Wow! I had an awesome morning! I had three cups of coffee and three fresh reasons to have a heartful of thankfulness before the sun came up!
Speaking of which…
One of my “thankfulnesses” was for the moon! I was out jogging early and the moon was beautiful and super-full this a.m.! Did you know that the gravitational pull of the moon is like a kind of brake on our earth’s rotation and it keeps us at just the right speed as we spin? If we didn’t have the moon, the earth would be spinning so fast, there would be major hurricane winds over the surface of the whole world, 24 7! Today the winds are variable and about 3 mph…So thankful for our moon!
And…when the moon’s full, it’s easier to see skunks nosing around by the side of the road! All you have to do is slide over to the other side and trot on by! Apparently, if you mind yer own beeswax, skunks are cool with that. Passed three during my route today! By the time I reach the house, I only smelled sweaty! Thankful for that!
And…I came across an awesome Scripture before I tied my running shoes on…Remember how a few weeks ago, it seemed like all across the country, and all around the world, folks were finding whole flocks of various birds dead in the middle of the road? In Arkansas, thousands of blackbirds crashed into houses and each other, and dropped dead into yards, parks, and streets. Then they found hundreds dead on the highway near Baton Rouge. Then in Italy and other countries, there were loads of…not bird droppings, but birds dropping. In one place they were cowbirds. .In another, it was red-winged blackbirds. As they say, birds of a feather, croak together.
Some scientists say this isn’t really unusual. 5 billion birds die in American each year. Without smoking. Red-wing blackbirds have flocks that grow to 2 million. 5000 is a small group in that cloud of birds.
I guess the thing that kind of made an impression on me was that, you heard a lot about this for a few days and then…nothing. They say that’s how the news works. It has “cycles” and folks lose interest. So birds might still be flopping down to the earth but you just don’t hear about it.
Only thing is…if it were only one starling or swallow a day somewhere in our world, God knows. Here’s my early morning Scripture…
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (Matt 10.29)
In Luke, the same thought is put this way…
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” (Luke 12.6)
Did ya catch the diff? In Matthew, it’s two sparrow for a penny. In Luke, they’re so cheap you get five for two pennies! Two for one penny or four for two…with an extra thrown in!
But God cares about that little bird! It doesn’t fall without Him knowing and caring!
And even better...our Lord adds, “Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!”
Y’know, when Luke quoted our Lord, he was writing in the Greek language and translating what Jesus said in His Aramaic language. The word Luke used for “worth”…as in, “your worth more than sparrows”…comes from the word “diaphero”. It means, “to carry through”. You’re precious to Him! So precious, He knows when sparrows drop from the sky, but He’s going to carry you through! He’ll carry you home! You won’t flop, drop, or stop without Him! You’re in His hand! He’ll carry you all day and all the way!
It may not make the news cycle, ‘cause the populous in general may not care, but He does! He cares about you! And that’s awesome news!