My new normal includes cloudless skies without the crisscross trails from jets passing overhead.
My new normal includes roads without traffic for afternoon walks with my wife.
My new normal includes moments to wander around the yard to check up on the spring bulbs as they break through to the spring.
And, my new normal includes a few minutes outside each morning as I begin my day.
Yesterday on our walk, we noticed a chorus of frogs coming from the pond down the road. And this morning I noticed that the songbirds were back. They are back in full-force. Robins and blue jays and sparrows, and birds I could hear but could not see or identify. They fluttered overheard, calling to each other and, perhaps, calling to me.
Maybe, I thought, their calling was a reminder of the words of Jesus to his followers recorded in Luke 12:22-34. (I have included the text below so you can skip down and read it.)
“Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will put on,” he told them. An important reminder to some whose example of “good” religious life had too often been only of those who were wealthy, who took pride in what they had and what they wore, and who hoarded more than they needed.
Yet Jesus turned their attention to the birds – here the ravens, but just a few verses earlier the sparrows – and to the lilies of the field. They were, he told them, reminders of God’s provision, and reminders of their value to God.
You are worth more than the birds of the skies, and more than the flowers of the fields. And so what? Well… so don’t be anxious, don’t be worried, and do not fear. God is not only in control, but he is in love with you. And God will provide.
Today, step outside and listen to his reminder for you.
Luke 12:22-34, ESV
22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
