Episode Transcript
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
CONSIDER THIS
Today, our Holy Spirit story comes from Bonnie Crandall. Bonnie is many things to many people, but at the core, she is a deep listener to souls and a profound lover of people. She is a therapist, a type of spiritual director, a friend who sticks closer than a brother or a sister, and a storyteller who has learned to paint with words. I met Bonnie decades ago when her husband, Dr. Ron Crandall, was one of my seminary professors—who is himself of a breed of teacher/trainer impossible to find anymore. He is what the great seminary professors used to be and now (more than ever) must aspire to become. Together, they have helped many birds find the sky. May you enjoy and be edified by this story today. Below, you will read the story in her words, and, if you listen, you will hear it in her own voice.
I was late, as usual, and needed a bridal shower gift for someone I didn’t know, but her parents were influential church leaders, and since my husband was their minister, a gift had to be bought, and a shower had to be attended.
I rushed into the shopping center, dragging my four-year-old, Matthew. The area had an open courtyard with woven netting stretched across to keep leaves and debris from dropping onto people below. For each of my hurried steps, poor Matthew’s little legs needed several more, so he was almost running to keep up! However, my set jaw and clenched teeth made it obvious to anyone watching that I was paying him little attention.
Then I felt my arm jerked hard, and his little body stopped short, heels dug in. I turned and saw that he was staring intensely at the netting above the courtyard. Glancing up, I saw nothing of note, so I pulled his arm and said, “Come on, Matthew. We have to go.” His eyes still focused up, he said, “No. We can’t. The bird can’t find the sky.”
Looking up again, I spotted a small sparrow with ruffled feathers hanging precariously on an ornamental brick where the net attached to the wall. As I watched, the bird wobbly took off, swooped low, and headed again toward the sky through the courtyard netting. Not understanding the barrier, he flew smack-dab into it, and half-flying and half-falling, he bounced onto a small tree. Matthew watched, then walked to a nearby bench and sat down. When I saw him bow his head and bring his little hands together, I joined him just in time to hear his final words: “and God, let the bird find the sky. Amen.” I waited a moment, affirmed his prayer, and then suggested we continue our shopping. “No,” he said, “We have to wait until God helps the bird find the sky.” Then, as a child of faith, he remained seated and returned to praying.
I, on the other hand, was not feeling prayerful. In fact, I was far from it. The emotions in me were churning, not peaceful. Many changes had happened in my life over the last few months. Two major surgeries and a diagnosed medical condition were turning my life upside down. Plus, I was married to a man who was giving his all to a congregation that was fighting him at every turn, and he had little left to give to his family . . . namely, me! Pray to God for a little bird! I thought. Ha!
Glancing down at my dear Matthew and seeing his brow furrowed in intense four-year-old prayer, I realized the shower gift would have to wait. I watched the totally confused bird try to recover. He understood where the sky was and had made several attempts to get there, but something that he couldn’t understand (the net) kept getting in his way. I so knew that feeling! At one point in my life, I felt I knew what God’s sky looked like for me, and I flew free. Lately, new realities made me feel trapped and extremely earthbound.
However, as I watched the bird resting on that small branch, waiting to recoup his bearings, I was reminded of the verse from Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” This little sparrow didn’t want to be an eagle, but he did need to renew all his sparrow strength. “Boy, do I know how you feel,” I whispered to the weary bird.
Little hands pulling on my sleeve brought me out of my musings. “Look, Mommy!” said Matthew. The bird was flying again, and this time, he went back and forth under the netting. Then, he headed for a spot of brighter light, and with wing tips brushing the net, he plunged through the opening to the sky!
Immediately, Matthew rose and said, “We can go now. God helped the bird find the sky.” And off he walked with the confidence of faith that children find so easily. I stood there, a child of God, and began to realize that if I stayed faithful to the task—with even birdlike faith—God would help me find my sky again. Hurrying to catch up with my sermon-on-legs son, my step was lighter, and I found myself humming a favorite hymn from my childhood: “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.”
“And a little child shall lead them.”
THE PRAYER
Father, thank you for the way your eye is on the sparrow. As the psalmist says, "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" (Ps. 84:3). Indeed, Lord Almighty, you are our King and our God. Would you orient us, even me, to the sky today? Conditions can be so punishing, and lostness can feel so real to even those who are securely found. Reorient us to the sky. Tend to our weary souls, and heal the brokenness in our wings. Praying in Jesus's name, amen.
THE JOURNAL PROMPTS
How do you identify with today's story? Can you receive the assurance today that his eye is on you and he longs to hold you close in the waiting?
