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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman The
Food Of Falcons Sammy had never
experienced fear, anguish, hatred, anger, sickness, or death, but in the
span of one split second that all came to a sudden and challenging end.
Clouded in confusion, he shakes his head to clear his mind, but it's not
just in his mind. It's
throughout his whole being. It's
who he has become. It's all
around him. It's the new
normal. "He did it,"
screams Saralie the sparrow, Sammy's sister.
Scared stiff, Sammy
stutters. "W ... w ...
who did what S... Sar... Saralie?"
"The man and the
woman ate the whole thing. We're
doomed Sammy," cries Saralie in horrified anguish.
"How stupid!
It's over for us now. Did
they forget the command?" replied Sammy in despondence.
Saralie sobs bitterly.
"Sammy, I'm not who I once was.
I feel completely different." Sammy screams.
"Watch out Saralie! Watch
out!" Terror strikes Sammy.
With panic-filled pain, he vomits up his lunch.
Tears explode from his eyes as he sees Fred the falcon sweeping
down and snatching up Saralie. In
two quick gulps he swallows Saralie alive.
Uncontrollable rage
explodes from deep within Sammy's now sad soul.
"W…w....why did you kill her you damn fool?" Sammy is dumbfounded. He
had never heard the word "kill" before, but now in a fit of
aggressive anger, he spews out this repulsive word.
"What's gotten into us?" he asks.
"It's corruption.
It's death," snickers Satanos the snake.
"Saralie became the food of falcons, and guess what
Sammy-boy. You're next on
the menu."
The scene shifts to the
year 30 A.D.. Cynical Sid, a
distant descendent of Sammy the sparrow, overhears Jesus talking to his
disciples. "Do not
worry about your life. Look
at the birds of the air. Your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25 - 26) As Sid twitches his head
in disgust, he mutters. "Jesus
isn't telling the whole story. He
fails to mention that the same birds the heavenly Father feeds will soon
become the food of falcons. What's
up with that?"
Sid's mother interjects.
"Jesus is encouraging His disciples.
Like us Sid, they manoeuvre their way through a hostile world of
uncertainty."
On another occasion Sid
overhears Jesus again. "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, so don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows."
(Matthew 10:29 - 31)
As Sid eyes the sky for
falcons, his disgust intensifies. "So
there you go. Jesus admits
sparrows will fall to the ground and die, and I know how they die.
It's the falcons. How
can my untimely death be God's will?"
"But Sid, Jesus is
using us to make a point," responds his mother.
"We become food for falcons while some disciples will become
lunch for lions in Roman arenas. As
our untimely death is not apart from God's will, neither is their
untimely death apart from God's will.
Our Father does not forsake us or them in death, whenever and however we
die." "How
delightful," replies Sid with a hint of cynicism?
"Death isn't the
end of the matter," says Sid's mother.
"Death can't separate us from God (Romans 8:38).
Our death, and their death, is not apart from God's will.
He values us too much to leave us in the grips of death."
"But I thought
Jesus said that disciples are more valuable than us sparrows,"
replies Sid. "Sid, disciples are
more valuable than us, but more value doesn't mean we have no value.
If God values us, then the disciples have nothing to worry about,
even in the face an untimely death from a hostile environment.
We may be the food of falcons and the
disciples might become lunch for lions, but as death swallows up life,
death becomes the doorway into new life, where new life will become our
new normal."
Post Script A version of ths article can be found in my Amazon book "Will I Ever See My Buddy Again?"
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