The Swallows of the Air

Consider the swallows of the air. They pay no rent, neither do they go to the supermarket. Yet, they manage to build a house in a rich man’s apartment, and bring up their young to explore the broad expanse of sky above the river.

Even as our good neighbours Sandra and Rodrigo move out of Torre Sul this weekend, we have acquired some new ones! The kind that don’t pay any rent, that make an awful mess of our tiny balcony, and that go screaming around the neighbourhood, making a racket. Still, we don’t mind. It’s a great pleasure to share our apartment with a family of swallows. To watch them as the evening sun goes down, wheeling between the high rise blocks to arrive in their tiny nest with a mouthful of flies and grubs for their young. And to hear those little ones bursting with energy and joy for living in their tiny nest above our heads.

I guess Jesus exhortation in the Sermon on the Mount to consider the lilies of the field is just that. Take your eyes off yourself just for a moment, and away from the mundane round of existence you are struggling with. Look at the grand design around you, and the way that things, animals and birds, apparently without effort, come into being and make their way through life, without thought of market rates, or economic slumps or whatever.

And, yes, turn your eyes to the great Creator of life, and give Him thanks for this one basic fact - that He cares for you far above any lily of the field, or swallow of the air.